


As Pieces Slip Away, Others Fall into Place

by elle_delajoie



Category: Glee
Genre: Canonical Character Death - Finn Hudson, F/M, M/M, Mentions of Scandals scene from TFT, Non-descriptive mention of the death of OCs, Not Blaine or Klaine Friendly, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 177,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27518236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_delajoie/pseuds/elle_delajoie
Summary: Nearly six months after Kurt turned down the proposal, he and Sebastian reconnect on Labor Day in 2013, neither one alone. Kurt had finally gotten his spot at NYADA and Sebastian was headed to Columbia University the last time they had seen each other. What has lead them to be at a park in Columbus, Ohio when they had both considered New York City their future home?Updates Tuesdays & Thursdays.
Relationships: Kurt Hummel & Sebastian Smythe, Kurt Hummel/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 572
Kudos: 229





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

**NYC/Lima – October 2012**

Sam rolled over in the dark and picked up his phone to see who was calling him so late.

"Hey, Kurt."

There was silence on the other end and then crying.

Sam sat straight up in bed. "Kurt, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"I feel like I'm going to die." Kurt spoke so raggedly that Sam could barely understand him. He sniffled and tried to calm himself. "Blaine came tonight."

"I thought he was going in two weeks."

"He was. He showed up early. He cheated on me." Kurt was still barely intelligible.

"He what? Did you say that he cheated on you?"

Kurt was sobbing. "Yes."

"Take a few deep breaths." Sam guided him through a few breaths. "That's better. Now, tell me what happened."

Kurt went through what had happened during the evening. "Then, he said that he 'needed me and I wasn't there for him' and it's my fault."

"Kurt, breathe." He waited. "Again." He gave Kurt time to take a few deep breaths before he spoke. "This is NOT your fault. You've been really busy. That place you live in was empty two weeks ago. You got a new job. You told me that you'd been Skyping, texting, and talking with him."

"I have been. I just talked to him at lunch today."

"You haven't been ignoring him. He knows not to call you at work or during work, and he's not respecting the rules of the place you work when he does it anyway."

"Well, I broke the rules again today and talked to him."

"Where are you?"

"On the stairs outside the loft door. He's sleeping in my bed."

"That's rude. He should be on the floor or the couch if you found one."

"I did."

"Then he should be sleeping on it."

"He expects me to forgive him. He showed up with a huge bouquet of red roses and acted like everything was fine at first. It wasn't until after we went out and we were on our way back here that I pressed him about why he was acting strange." Kurt sniffed. "I can't do this, Sam. I can't be with someone who would go sleep with someone else when I've only been gone two weeks."

"Wait, he slept with someone else?"

"What did you think I meant by cheating?" Kurt started to cry again.

"I thought he like kissed someone when he was drunk or something."

"No. He had sex with someone else."

"I'm not sure what else to do. I've already become his vice president and spend way more time with him than I want to. I know he's your boyfriend, or WAS I guess at this point. I did what you asked, but I really don't know what you see in him. I'm sorry. That was rude, especially with how upset you are. But you know that I've never thought he was good enough for you."

"You've made that clear numerous times, yes. But I didn't have any other choices and I was tired of being alone."

"I get that. I'm feeling that now. Everyone I was friends with is gone. I mean there's Tina, Artie, and Brittany, but you're gone. I'm already pretty fed up with being Blaine's sidekick. He's acting like he's always been into comics and sci fi and it's all so fake and he broke your heart and I want to kick his ass."

"Please don't. You know I don't believe in violence."

"Only because you're my best friend and you're asking me not to. But now being nice to him is going to be next to impossible. I know I promised you and I won't go back on my word."

"Thank you."

"Don't take him back. I will make you a deal. I will make everyone believe that I am Blaine's bestie if you promise not to take him back."

"I don't know if I can promise that."

"Kurt, listen to me. You can do better. I know you don't want to hear it, but it's true. He doesn't treat you right. He never has. We'll talk about it more once the shock has worn off. Don't tell him that you forgive him or that you're going to consider taking him back. Don't give him any hope or he will be relentless to earn your forgiveness."

"I still love him."

"I know. I still love Mercedes. But sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to. And sometimes that for the best. But either way, it hurts. Be strong. Don't give in to the puppy eyes. Every time you think you might say you'll consider taking him back, remind yourself that he had sex with someone else and blamed you. He made at least a dozen choices to get to the point where some dude was sexing him up. You know that as well as I do. You know that I let Quinn lie to me about what she had done. Don't do what I did. Don't believe his lies. Make a list of steps he had to have taken that were choices. I'll start. He had to have been chatting with another gay guy, which would have been fine, unless they were sexting. But then what?"

"He had to agree to meet the guy."

"He got in his car and drove somewhere. He could have turned back anywhere along the drive. He could have pulled back out of the driveway or parking spot, even after he got there."

"He could have walked back to his car instead of knocking."

"Once the dude opened the door, he could have said, 'I've lost my goddamn mind. I have the most amazing boyfriend that I'm going to see in two weeks.' And turned around and walked back to his car."

Kurt laughed. "Thanks for saying I'm amazing."

"Well, it's true. So, even if he went inside, he could have changed his mind at any point in time and not gone through with it."

"I just felt like I had been sucker-punched in the gut when he said it to me."

"I can only imagine. It felt terrible when Quinn cheated on me and when Mercedes cheated with me. And those were just kisses. Are you sure I can't kick his ass?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You better pull out your best acting skills to pull off being his bestie."

"Do you know how much I love you to even consider doing this for you?"

"Yes. And you know I love you too. I'll agree to your terms. I won't take him back, but you have to try to keep him away from me."

"Find someone new. Someone who appreciates how amazing you are."

"Be gay or bisexual already and I'll have that problem solved."

"Since being straight worked so well for you."

"Hush, you." Kurt laughed.

"Well, at least I got you to laugh."

"You always make me laugh. I miss you."

"I miss you too. And I would totally turn bi if I knew how. You'd be the best boyfriend – way better than any of my girlfriends, even Mercedes."

"I guess I'm stuck with the best bromance then," Kurt said.

"And I have a new fake bestie. Woo hoo," Sam deadpanned. "You should have broken up with him after he practically shouted a breakup song at you."

"You're right. But the list of things I should have done is pretty long. Don't grab for the first girl who is available and willing, Sam. Promise me. I'll get some help. I'll be open to finding someone new and amazing, but you have to promise me not to settle for the first girl that's available. Just remember that you're amazing too. You just have to find someone who sees it. And you deserve someone just as awesome as you are."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Thanks for picking up even though is 2 in the morning."

"I always pick up or call back as soon as I can."

"I'm going to go back in and sleep on the couch myself."

"Good choice. Call me tomorrow or text me at least."

"Will do. 'Night."

"Goodnight, Sam."

* * *

**NYC/Belleville, Kentucky – December 2012**

Kurt collapsed on his bed after remaking the Rachel's bed with the freshly laundered bed linens. He couldn't bring himself to let Blaine sleep in his bed. He let Burt take his room, taking the couch himself. He picked up his phone and called Sam.

"Did you know he was coming?"

"What?"

"Did you know that my dad was bring Blaine for Christmas?"

"I thought your dad, Carole, and Finn went to Zensville, Zaneston, some place that starts with a Z?"

"Zanesville."

'That's it."

"Well, they went and Dad came here with Blaine."

"I had no idea. I left last week, as soon as school let out on Friday."

"Finally, something good happens. I got into NYADA. And then my dad comes to see me and takes me out to see my first real Broadway show. And it was amazing. We left and stopped for hot chocolate…" Kurt paused, willing himself not to cry. "And he told me that he has cancer."

"What?"

"Yeah. He says it's easy treatable. We got back and he gave me an address to go pick up my present. It was an ice skating rink where Blaine was waiting for me. He stayed for two days with me and my dad, watching sports, being all buddy-buddy with my dad. And my dad had told him about the cancer before he told me. And Blaine applied to NYADA for the fall. He clearly thinks my conciliatory overture at Thanksgiving was a green light to consider himself back in line to be my boyfriend again."

"I don't know what else to do, Kurt. I've humored him all semester. God, he's an attention hog. Does he ever listen when someone talks to him?"

"Only if it's about him AND it's positive or framed in a way that's positive initially, like the beginning of the song was great, but then you got a little too loud for the music. That way he can frame the solution in a way that isn't an insult to him."

"I'm ready for the school year to end. If I don't get passing scores on those tests, I'm going back to Kentucky. I may hate it there, but there are no state-required tests to graduate."

"I totally understand that. What are you going to do after you graduate?"

"No idea. No clue whatsoever. I'm seriously considering telling my parents that we can all move back to Tennessee and with all three of us working, we can afford to live where we used to."

"Maybe you all could get a small 3-bedroom place and Stevie and Stacey could share a room until you could save up enough to turn a 1-car garage into a studio for you."

"Not a bad plan. Definitely worth considering." There was commotion in the background. "I'm being called to the other room. I gotta go. I'm sorry your Christmas went so bad."

"Me too. Have fun."

* * *

**NYC– February 2013**

After spending time with Blaine over Christmas, Kurt realized that needed to get professional help. He went to a counselor at NYADA who was giving him the help he needed to learn to set and maintain boundaries. He had made up his mind and that was that.

"I'll say it more slowly so you can follow along better this time," Kurt said in a most sarcastic tone. "I…am…NOT…going…to…Lima...for…Mr. Schue's…wedding."

"But Kurt, everyone will be there," Rachel implored.

"No. And that's final. I'm not getting back together with Blaine and if I go to that wedding, where I've been assigned to sing two duets with him, people will get the wrong idea, most especially Blaine. You broke it off with Finn. Blaine cheated on me after two weeks of me being here." He walked away and repeated, "I'm not going."

* * *

**Dalton – Mid-March 2013**

Sebastian had arrived early to school Monday morning. He went to his first class and took his seat and pulled his textbook and laptop out. His mind wandered from the textbook he was reading while waiting for first period to start. He opened his phone and looked at a photo. _Rose Alexandra Smythe_. _7lbs 14oz, 21' long. Not much hair, but what there is of it is the same color as mine. Will her eyes be green like mine and Mom's or will they be hazel like Dad's? March 18_ _th_ _, just two days after mine._

He thought back to the previous Wednesday afternoon at the hospital. He had made it there just in time to see her right after she was cleaned up. He spent the whole weekend at home holding her whenever he could.

He let his mind slip away to thinking about how his parents had gone back to celebrate their 20th Anniversary to where they went on their honeymoon. He shook his head slight and smirked. His mom came back pregnant just like she had the first time.

_And now, I'm a big brother to baby Rose, who's beautiful and tiny and perfect,_ he thought _._ He was head over heels for her and he was planning to spoil her rotten. He looked a few more of the pictures he had taken over her over the weekend. He put his phone away when he heard footsteps.

Jeff came up behind him and thumped him on the shoulder and plopped down in the seat next him. Within a couple of minutes, the classroom was full and the bell rang.

* * *

**Lima – Mid-March 2013**

"Hey, Dad, can we talk for a while?" Kurt plopped down on the other end of the sofa.

Burt hit the mute button on the remote. "Sure, kiddo what's up?"

"Well, I'm really glad your appointment went so well earlier today. I've been really scared. I've tried to keep from making you more stressed by not talking about things, but the counselor I've been seeing this semester talked about my penchant for lying by omission and how this sort of falls in that general vicinity."

Burt took a deep breath and let it out. "Look, Kurt. I've always known that more went on at school that you ever let on about. I didn't know the specifics, but Finn did and has let a few things out of the bag here and there, not knowing that I didn't know what he was talking about."

"Such as?"

"Him and Puck tossing you into the dumpsters and how you forgave both of them and how much that meant to him. Just little things, but those little things added up to me getting a pretty decent picture of what went on."

"I see. Well, there's something I need to tell you."

"Alright."

"Blaine and I are never getting back together. I need you to respect my wishes."

"Oh. That's not the impression I had gotten."

"It may not be because from what I've pieced together, he spends quite a bit of time over here with Sam these days."

"He does. I didn't realize that was a problem."

"It's not a problem for me so long as you know that he's not your future son-in-law and that he's here because he's Sam friend and Sam lives here and not because he's my former boyfriend that I'm getting back together with sometime."

"You were a little stiff at Christmas, but that's pretty much your MO unless it's just the two of us. Is that all you're going to tell me? That it's permanently over? Are seeing someone else seriously? Is that what this is about?"

"I'm friends with a guy, maybe more than friends, but much, much less than boyfriends."

"That doesn't really make sense."

"I know. He wants more. I can't give it to him right now, so we're just hanging out as friends. We go out for coffee. He hangs out at the loft and bakes with me sometimes. But he's British and he's a senior. He doesn't know what he's doing at the end of the semester and I'm not ready to put my whole heart into something that might end in less than two months. He's super sweet and he'd be a great boyfriend, but we're not officially dating."

"Alright. So, it's not because you've fallen in love with someone else."

"Nope. Well, it kind of is. I'm learning to love myself. And in so doing, I can't be in a relationship with someone who doesn't respect me."

"In what way is Blaine disrespectful? You're beating around the bush. I'm figuring that's because you think whatever you're going to say is going to stress me out. Keep in mind that not knowing stresses me out. So, there isn't a 'no stress' option here."

Kurt took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Last fall, the first Friday in October, Blaine came to see me in New York."

"Yeah, I know. He got the ticket the day I booked yours. Wait. He planned to go out the middle of October."

"Well, he showed up unannounced two weeks early. And by the end of the evening, he confessed that he had cheated on me."

"Come again?"

"He had sex with someone. I asked him who it was. He said it didn't matter. His exact words were, 'I needed you and you weren't there.' And my world fell apart. I was crushed."

"Oh, Kurt. Why didn't you tell me? I would have never brought him with me at Christmas."

"I was embarrassed. I believed what he said. I took the responsibility upon myself. I thought through every time I could have spent another five minutes texting him or how I could have just stopped after I got my bed instead of spending time looking for other furniture. I nearly drove myself insane trying to figure out how I could have been more available to him. I went to a regular doctor and got a prescription for Ambien because I couldn't sleep. Eventually Isabelle convinced me to see someone. She paid for it because I couldn't afford it. I only went twice. The therapist helped me to see that it wasn't my fault. I read a couple of books on forgiveness and relationships that the therapist recommended since I couldn't keep going. You know that my relationship with Rachel is always rocky because she always so self-focused, so it was hard to turn to her because I can never trust her completely. Losing Blaine broke me. I thought maybe I could eventually rebuild a friendship with him. You bringing him at Christmas was too soon for that. Since I walked on eggshells the whole time trying not to let you see how much him being there bothered me, it gave him the impression that I was okay with him there, you know? That I had already forgiven him and that I was willing to give him a second chance."

"Oh, God, Kurt. I thought you two just split over the difficulty of the distance. I had no idea he had cheated on you. And you're right that I just let him be here all the time because I felt like this was going to be his home eventually. Now, that I know that's not true, I'll treat him like he's Sam's friend, like you said. Once Sam moves on, Blaine will have no reason to be here. And I'll tell Sam that whenever you're here, he and Blaine need to take it elsewhere."

"Thanks, Dad. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth."

"Is that why you didn't come back for the wedding like everyone else did?"

"Yeah. My invitation had a note in it, pairing me with Blaine for two songs during the reception. I knew the only way I wouldn't end up doing something stupid was to stay away. And he's been really annoying while I've been here this week. He skipped school to go to the Lima Bean with me, Mike, and Mercedes. And he keeps making passes at me. I'm sure he'll get into NYADA. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that next year. I did apply some other places last fall when I reapplied to NYADA. I wasn't willing to risk not going to college for another year if I didn't get in. I haven't gotten any of the acceptance or rejection letters from those applications yet. They get sent out in early April. I'll just have to figure that out when the time comes."

"So, you'd leave New York if he gets into NYADA?"

"I don't know, Dad. If he's going to be as persistent and annoying as he has been this week, I just might. I want to learn. I want to be a performer. I should have applied to some schools in Ohio to start with. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Well, I'm glad you told me all of this. I'll make sure Sam knows not to bring Blaine to dinner Friday."

"Thanks."

"Sam knows, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why's he hanging out with him then?"

"I asked him to."

"I don't get it."

"Sam begged me not to take Blaine back. I asked Sam to keep him away from me."

"No wonder that kid acts so weird sometimes. He's living here keeping your secrets and keeping his word to you too. He's a good friend to you."

"I know."

"Any other important secrets you've been keeping from me?"

"Not that I can think of. I just want to say that I'll try to do a better job of being honest with you. I am sorry."

"I know, kiddo. I know you've tried to protect me your whole life when it was my job to protect you. I'm sorry too. I should have asked you about bring him to New York. Distance or other any other reason for breaking up should have been my cue to not bring him to see you without asking you first. It was disrespectful of me to invite anyone to your place without asking ahead of time."

"Thanks. Oh, one more thing. Blaine keeps asking me to stay through the week and be here for Regionals. Mercedes had already asked me, but if Blaine keeps being so annoying, I may just pay the $50 to switch to an earlier flight."

"I get it. I hope you stick around, but you gotta do whatcha' gotta do."

* * *

**Dalton – Mid March 2013**

"Tell me why we're here. I thought you said you weren't taking him back. That it was completely over."

"It is, Dad. But he won't listen. He thinks 'no' means 'convince me'," Kurt said with a tinge of old venom.

"There's more to that statement."

"There is, but I'm not going to explain. I'm going to get out of this SUV and go in there and tell him 'no' in front of the 50? 100? How ever many people there are here. Sam only warned me of a 3-ring circus, not the exact details because those were being worked out this morning. I'm actually going to attempt to tell him no right out here. You can just stay here. If he grabs my hand or I'm suddenly surrounded and escorted in, push your way to the front of wherever the final destination is."

"Got it."

Kurt took a few steps towards the entrance. A marching band came out on the balcony above the entrance and played the intro to "All You Need is Love". Blaine came out. As he got closer, he said, "Where's the suit I dropped off for you to wear?"

"It's hanging in the coat closet in my parents' house."

"Why?"

The song finally filtered into Kurt's brain. "'All You Need is Love'? Really Blaine?" Kurt looked down at the ground, shook his head, and spoke with absolute contempt, but a little too low for Blaine to actually hear him. "A song about how I'm nothing without YOUR love?" He straightened himself up, stood to his full height, squared his shoulders, and looked down a bit to meet Blaine's eyes. "Actually, the song is the perfect choice."

"Thanks. Come on. Everyone's inside."

"No, I'm not going in. Since October, I've repeatedly told you that we are not together. I've clearly stated on many occasions that we are just friends, but it's obvious that you're not happy with that. I'm not in love with you anymore. We were together for over a year before I took that step with you. And two weeks after I left, you took that step with someone else and blamed me for it. I won't put myself back in that position again." He realized that the New Directions were starting to come out the doors singing and the Warblers were singing on the balcony.

"No one will ever love you the way I do."

"I certainly hope not." He turned to walk away. He glanced back as he opened the door to get into his dad's SUV.

Blaine's face was full of confusion and rage, but he closed his eyes and slipped on his calm and cool dapper performance face before he turned back towards the crowd of show choirs that had gathered.

* * *

**Lima – Late March 2013**

"Rachel!" Kurt said, as he caught her when she fainted.

Sam rushed to pick her up out of Kurt's arms. He carried her to his truck, with Kurt right on his heels.

"It's not locked. Just reach in my pocket and grab my keys so you can drive." As soon as Kurt had his keys and opened the passenger door, Sam climbed in, still holding Rachel in his arms.

Kurt drove them to Lima General as quickly as he could safely do so. He pulled into the emergency parking area. Sam got out and carried Rachel in. They got her inside and into a triage area quickly. When she came to a bit, she heard the nurse say that only one person could stay and she grabbed for Kurt and wouldn't let go. Sam headed back out to his truck to wait. A nurse took down some information and someone came in a few minutes later and drew several vials of blood.

When a doctor finally came back, she asked, "Honey, is this your boyfriend?"

"What?" She was still a bit groggy. "He can hear whatever you have to say."

"Honey, you're pregnant. You passed out because you're dehydrated. Have you had anything to eat or drink?"

"I'm what? I keep throwing everything up. I haven't kept much down for the last week."

Kurt spoke up. "We're back in town from New York for a family member's funeral. We've all be under a lot of stress. I thought she was throwing up because of that."

"That may very well be, but we're going to admit you overnight. Now that you're awake, I'll leave you to undress and put this gown on. Once it's on, we're going to hook up to a drip full of vitamins and electrolytes to get you back to feeling better. I'm going to have the ultrasound technician come in to give you a due date after that." She put the hospital gown and a paper sack for Rachel's clothes on the bed before she left the room.

Rachel spoke softer than a whisper. "Oh, God, Kurt. I'm pregnant. No wonder I've gained five pounds. Don't tell anyone."

"I won't. Who you tell is up to you, not me. I'm going to text Sam so he can go ahead back home. I'm telling him you passed out from dehydration and that otherwise you're fine. And that I'll let him know when we need a ride." He took his phone out and turned his back, giving Rachel a chance to change. "Your dads weren't at the funeral."

"They're on another cruise. They won't be back until next week. You can turn back around." She laid her dress out across the end of the bed and put her shoes and other items in the sack on top.

The nurse returned a few minutes later to put the IV in. Once she left, they sat there in silence for what seemed like a long time. An ultrasound technician eventually came in.

"Do you want your boyfriend to stay?"

Rachel nodded and held Kurt's hand.

The technician covered Rachel's lower abdomen and upper legs with a towel and pushed the hospital gown up. She spread the gel on and began the procedure. After several minutes of running the ultrasound wand over Rachel's abdomen, pausing here and there and taking still shots, she finally spoke again. "You're about six months along already – 26 weeks. You're due on June 23rd."

"I'm too tired to think clearly. When does that mean I got pregnant?"

The tech stood up and used a calendar on the side of the ultrasound machine. "I have a cheat sheet over here," she teased. "I get asked that a lot. Umm, it looks like the beginning of October. Would you like me to know the baby's sex?"

"Yes."

"It's a girl." The technician sat back down on her stool.

"Do you want me to print out the still shots I took?"

Rachel didn't answer.

Kurt said, "Yes, please."

The tech printed them and gave them to Kurt.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Congratulations. An orderly will be down soon to move you to room." She pushed the ultrasound machine out of the room.

Once she was gone, Rachel spoke. "The baby is Finn's."

"I figured so when she said the date of conception. That was the week Finn was with us in Bushwick and I was pretty sure you hadn't slept with Brody at that point in time."

"I hadn't. I can't do this Kurt. I don't want to be a mom or have a baby."

"I think you are too far along to have an abortion unless your life is in danger, which I'm pretty sure it isn't. How did you not know you were pregnant?"

"I actually thought I might be, but one test was negative and the other was just barely super pale. I've been known to have very irregular cycles. And being stressed has caused me to skip months. I should have gone to a doctor. Now what am I going to do?"

Kurt looked some things up on his phone. "Well, you're going to have a baby in three months. You can't get an abortion here or in New York. You're too far along."

"I don't want an abortion either. I just want to not be pregnant."

"I don't have a magic wand to make you un-pregnant. If I did, there would be a lot of people wanting to use it."

She chuckled. "Thanks for not saying you weren't my boyfriend. I didn't want to be alone."

"Well, you know, if I were your boyfriend, you wouldn't be pregnant because no, just no." He scrunched his nose up teasing her.

She played smacked his shoulder. "Hey, I'm a catch."

"Mmm hmm," he teased. "But I'm not fishing."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

An orderly came in. "I'm here to move you up to your room."

Ten minutes later, she was in a more comfortable bed. A few minutes later, Burt and Carole arrived, surprising both of them.

"Rachel, honey, you scared us half to death. Are you okay? Sam said they were keeping you overnight, so we came to check on you."

Rachel began to cry. Carole sat down on the bed next to her and carefully wrapped her arms around her.

Once her tears stopped enough that she could talk, she said, "You can't tell anyone."

"Okay, honey."

"I'm pregnant with Finn's baby."

Carole pulled her closer and broke down bawling.

"I don't want a baby without him. I don't want to be a mom. I don't want an abortion."

Carole's body wracked with sobs.

"I'll raise her myself," Kurt said. "But it has to be airtight. I can't have you come back and lay claim to her at some point in time."

"What?" Rachel said, as she pulled back from Carole's embrace.

"I'll raise her myself. You can put my name on the birth certificate. No one will contest. You can sign away your parental rights and leave the mother's spot blank. But she has to be completely mine."

"Okay. Okay. I'll do that."

"She?" Carole asked.

Rachel said, "The ultrasound tech said that she's a girl."

Carole nodded.

Kurt said, "Your main challenge is going to be Fanny."

"Rehearsals don't start until this summer. If I'm pressed, I'll tell them that I agreed to be a surrogate before I got the role, but that I won't be pregnant by the time rehearsals start."

"What about NYADA?"

"I'll drop out. I can't do all of that dancing while pregnant. I can't see how I can be Fanny and go to school next fall anyway. I'd already been thinking about it. I was going to finish out the semester, but now… I'll just not go back. I'm going to need some place to go though. I don't want anyone else to know that I'm pregnant."

"We can help you find a small place until after the baby is born," Carole said. "We can make this work. How far along are you?"

Kurt answered, "The due date is June 23rd. The tech said 26 weeks." He handed Carole the box of tissues next to him.

Carole took the box. She and Rachel blew their noses and wiped their eyes.

"Thank you," Carole said.

"For what?" Rachel asked.

"For being willing to see this through. I'm sure there's somewhere you could still get an abortion."

"I can't. I just can't. But I can't raise her either."

"I understand. I'm not sure how you're going to manage to keep this from your dads, but if that's what you want, we'll abide by your wishes."

Rachel nodded. "I don't want anyone to know except the four of us."


	2. Chapter 2

**Columbus – Mid-June 2013**

"Push, Rachel. You can do this," Kurt said.

Carole was with her as well. "Just a few more times. She's almost here."

After ten more minutes of pushing, Aliza Grace Hummel made her entrance to the world five days early. Rachel had insisted that she didn't want to see her.

She was taken to another room to be examined. She weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and was 20.5 inches long. As soon as she was cleaned up, Kurt took her and held her. He rocked her and sang to her as he cried and smiled.

Once Rachel signed the legal documents, her hospital bracelet was changed and only Kurt's bracelet gave him access to the nursery. He stayed in the nursing area of the nursery until Aliza was released from the hospital two days later. Rachel went back to the apartment she'd been staying to recover until she returned to New York in July.

* * *

**Huntsville, Ohio**

When Kurt and Aliza left the hospital, Carole took them back to their new house in Huntsville to stay until Kurt could move into the efficiency they had rented in Dublin starting in July.

When they got out in the garage, he said, "I think this CRV is going to be perfect. I'll be able to get Aliza in and out of the middle of the back easily since it's not low-to-the-ground like a car and I can use the cargo area as a make-shift changing station whenever we're out, but it will be a lot easier to maneuver driving in a big city. And easier on budget since it gets a lot better gas mileage." He popped the handle up on the infant car seat, removed it from the base, and handed Aliza to Carole. He leaned back in to grab her diaper bag and closed the back door afterwards. "Thanks for driving back. After spending two nights in the recliner in the hospital, I'm beat."

"You're welcome, honey." She followed him inside. "I'm just glad we did her room first. We'll get everything put away over the next few days." She sat Aliza on the island in the kitchen. "I'm going to order in. Chinese?"

"Sounds great."

Aliza started to fuss. Kurt picked up the carrier and Carole followed him down the hall, calling in their order.

Once she finished, she said, "We'll still go shopping when we go to Columbus. No one knows that we bought this house yet, so no one will be here but the four of us. Let's get her fed and changed. After we eat, we can go back to unpacking the boxes. I'm glad we went ahead and got this place ready and moved everything as soon as Sam left."

"Me too. It would have been a lot harder to do it now with Aliza here."

Carole couldn't stand being in the house in Lima with Finn's ghost. She had struggled with the thought of moving, though. But with a new onslaught of bills from Burt's cancer treatments, her desire to spend time with Burt when he went to DC, no need for a huge home, too many reminders of Finn in Lima, and a granddaughter on the way, they opted to downsize to a ranch house about half the size of the one in Lima.

It had three equal-sized bedrooms and two and a half baths. One bedroom had it's own bath and the other two shared one between them. It had a large eat-in kitchen that was airy and bright that was open to the great room. It originally had a dining room, but it had been turned into an office when the wall separating the kitchen and living room had been removed. Kurt's bedroom furniture had been placed in the bedroom that connected through the bathroom with Aliza's room.

Carole removed Aliza from her carrier and put her on the changing table. "I know you watched all of the videos, but I'll show you how to clean around her umbilical cord and give you a chance to get used to seeing it done, and then you can do it tomorrow."

He nodded. He put the carrier next to the changing table and watched carefully, even though he had changed her several times at the hospital on his own. He was doing his best to be respectful.

Once she was re-diapered, Carole wrapped her up and held her close. "There will never be the right words to explain to you how much this means to me. I will do anything in my power to make this work. I would have agreed to take her…" Her voice trailed off.

"I know."

He looked around the room that they had painted pale turquoise. Kurt had made everything for her bed out of coordinating sea-patterned fabric. They had found a mobile with sea creatures, as well, in bright, but not quite neon colors – pink, lime, aqua, orange, and purple. Carole had bought a crib that could convert to a toddler bed, and then a full-sized headboard. The changing table was a 3-drawer dresser with a removable changing table top. Carole had found a rocker she liked and put it in the room as well.

Carole handed Aliza to Kurt. "I'll go make her bottle."

Kurt broke out of his daze when he took her. He followed Carole to the kitchen. Once he had the bottle, he sat in the rocking recliner in the living room. It wasn't long before the food arrived. Aliza fell asleep in his arms near the end of the bottle. He took her back down to her room and put her in the crib gently. He turned the baby monitor on and brought the receiver with him. He took a deep breath and sat down to eat at the table.

Once they finished, Kurt showered and got ready for bed, taking advantage of the fact that Aliza was sleeping soundly. When he got out, he opened the door to the bathroom into Aliza's room, left his door to the bathroom open, and got in bed. He figured he'd get a head start on the upcoming feedings every 2-3 hours.

* * *

**Dublin, Ohio – Mid-June 2013**

_Ding dong._

Sebastian went to answer the doorbell. He looked through the peephole and saw two police officers standing on the front porch. He opened the door slightly. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Are you Sebastian Smythe?"

"Yes?"

"We need you to come down to Dublin Memorial Hospital with us. You can follow us in your own vehicle, if you'd like."

"Let me get some shoes, my phone, and my wallet. I'll be right out." He closed and locked the door behind him and reset the security system. "Can you tell me what this is about?" he asked, as he tied his trainers.

"If you'll show us your ID first, please."

Sebastian showed them his driver's license.

"Your parents and sister have been in a car accident."

"Are they okay?"

"We don't have any other information to share with you. The hospital tried to reach you, but didn't get an answer, so we were sent out to see if you were home."

"Alright. I had my phone charging, but I didn't hear the landline ring."

"I'm not sure, son," the older officer said. "Do you want to ride with us or follow us?"

"I'll follow you, I guess. I'll need a way to get back home later."

Ten minutes later, they pulled up to the emergency area. Sebastian was escorted in, and a nurse took him back to a room. Rose was in a nurse's arms, crying. She was trying to comfort her, unsuccessfully. Sebastian walked straight up to the nurse, took her into his arms, and began to hum and sway the way Rose liked. She quieted immediately.

"Well, that answers who you are," the nurse said.

"Sebastian Smythe."

"Someone will be in to see you in just a few minutes."

"She's not hurt is she?"

"No, she's just frightened. I tried feeding her, but she refused."

"She drinks Alimentum. She cried and spit up a lot and the pediatrician changed her formula."

"I'll get some down here in a bottle."

"Thank you."

The nurse stopped someone outside the room and then stepped back inside. "I can't leave until someone verifies who you are. Obviously, she calmed when you took her, but rules are rules."

"It's fine. I wouldn't want someone to be able to take her just because she quit crying for them."

A couple of minutes later, one of the officers came in with a doctor and a middle-aged woman.

The woman introduced herself. "I'm Mrs. Ranston. I'm the hospital's social worker."

"Could you please show us your ID?" the officer asked.

Sebastian handed Rose to the nurse and took his driver's license out of his wallet and handed it to the officer. He looked it over and ran the number to verify that it was real. Once he was done, he handed it Mrs. Ranston who looked at it briefly and then handed it back to Sebastian. By then, Rose was starting to cry again. He put his license away quickly. The nurse gave her back to Sebastian. She calmed immediately again.

"Can you please tell us her date of birth and full name?" The police officer asked.

"Rose Alexandra Smythe. Her birthday is March 18th. She was born here."

"Thank you. I'll be right back," Mrs. Ranston said. When she came back a few minutes later, she put an ID bracelet on Sebastian and then on Rose. She removed the one she had on already which only said 'Baby Smythe - F' on it. "No one will be able to take her out of the hospital besides you now."

"Where are our parents?"

The doctor was the one to answer. "I'm sorry Sebastian. They didn't make it."

Sebastian collapsed into the closest chair, still carefully holding Rose. "They're dead?"

"I'm so sorry for your loss," the doctor said.

Mrs. Ranston said, "Rose will have to stay here until we can assess your living situation."

The doctor and officer left.

"What do you mean?"

"The state has to determine that Rose has a safe place to go home to and that she can be properly cared for. You're 19 years old and you just lost your parents. You have to decide whether you want to raise your sister."

"Of course, I'll raise my sister. We live in a nice house. My parents will have left everything to me. She already has a nanny. Everything will be fine."

Another nurse stepped in quietly and handed the bottle to the nurse who had asked for it. She handed it over to Sebastian, who fed Rose like had many times before.

"I can take care of her. I know how to feed her and bathe her and change her. I've done it lots of times. The nanny leaves at 2:00 and I've been taking care of her until my mom comes home at 6:00 for the last three weeks. I love her. I can do this," he said through the tears he couldn't hold back. "Please, let me keep her." He sweetly kissed her on the top of the head while she drank the bottle.

"Alright, Sebastian. I'll sign the release papers for us to take her back to your place and you can show me around. If I'm satisfied with what I see, I'll be back tomorrow morning to visit with the nanny."

"We have a family lawyer. I'll call him and get him to be there when you come. You can see my parents' will."

"I'll go work on that paperwork while she finishes that bottle. I'll get a loaner car seat as well. The one she was in can't be used again since it's been in an accident."

Sebastian nodded, as the tears continued to flow. He looked into Rose's eyes and did the best he could to sing her favorite lullaby to her.

About 15 minutes later, Mrs. Ranston was back. "The paperwork is done. We're just waiting on the car seat now. Were you singing to her in French?"

He nodded. "She speaks English and French. Well, obviously she doesn't actually speak anything yet. Our mom is… was French. Our nanny speaks French to her too."

"I see." She turned to answer the knock on the door. She took the car seat. "We're set now. Let's go out and I'll follow you to your house."

Sebastian put the car seat in the middle of the back while Mrs. Ranston watched. Sebastian drove her to her car in the outlot and waited for her to pull out to follow him. He kept his wits about him on the drive home and they made it safely. He got out and put in the security code and unlocked the door. He reset the alarm after they were all inside.

"Why so much security?"

"My dad is… was an art lover and we have quite a few valuable pieces of art, plus he's a state's attorney and there are a lot of people he's had some hand in incarcerating."

"Right."

"Rose's room is through here if you want to see it." Sebastian took her out of the borrowed car seat and carried her.

Mrs. Ranston followed him through the living room and dining room to a pink and white bedroom that looked like it belonged to a princess.

He turned around quickly enough to see her reaction. "So, Miss Rose here is a little spoiled."

"I can see that. Everything in this room is nicer than anything in my house."

"My mother's parents are quite well off. They live in France, but they are planning to visit in a month. They'll stay for a month or so."

"Must be nice."

"Most French people have a month vacation in either July or August. It's just the way things are done there. Plus, they're both retired now."

"Do they speak English?"

"Yes. When you come back in the morning, I'll have all of their contact information for you, as well as my dad's parents, who live in Westerville."

She nodded.

"If you want me to give you our lawyer's contact information, you can follow me to my dad's office in the next room. I need to call him to come here tomorrow anyway."

She followed him and took down the lawyer's contact information. "Thank you. I'll follow you to wherever you want to buy her a new car seat and make sure you install it properly, and then I'll return the loaner seat to the hospital."

* * *

**Dublin – Early July 2013**

"This would have been a lot easier on everyone if the courses I need were offered at OSU Lima."

"I know, honey. At least the ones from the first half of the summer were. Let's all get inside. Actually, let me have her and you can bring the box with the crib in it and the rest of the stuff in."

An hour later, Kurt had everything put away and had the crib set up and ready for Aliza. Kurt fed her and put her in the crib. He had done what he could to spruce up the furnished efficiency with some turquoise and brown handmade throw pillows, a coordinating tablecloth on the tiny dining table, and a matching fabric valence tied on with ribbons across the top of the blinds.

"Well, that's the best I can do within the 'no nails, no tape' rules."

"The brown sofa bed actually looks decent and the furniture is all brown, so I think the bright colors look nice. I'm going to go ahead back home. I'll be here Monday morning so you can go to class."

Kurt locked the door after she left and started to assemble the stroller.

* * *

**Park near OSU in Columbus, Ohio – Labor Day 2013**

Kurt pushed Aliza in her stroller towards the area of the park where the flyer had said that the Buckeye Single Parents Club was hosting a picnic. He saw someone walking towards him, also pushing a stroller that reminded him of…

"Kurt?" the other man called out.

"Sebastian?" When he got closer he snidely asked, "Did you run out of guys to do and turn to girls?"

Sebastian smarted back. "Did you get a girl drunk enough to think you were straight?" He stopped.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said. "That was uncalled for."

"Yeah, me too." He refocused. "Are you on your way to the single parents club meeting?"

Kurt nodded. "I accepted your apology last year. I shouldn't have jabbed at you. You haven't done anything to me in ages. Well, there was you singing back up for Blaine at his outrageous proposal at Dalton the day after Regionals that I had to turn down publicly."

"People who don't want to risk public embarrassment should propose in private. He deserved that. He cheated on you and wouldn't leave you alone from what I heard. No means no."

"Yeah, Blaine never got that memo."

Sebastian wasn't sure what to make of that statement. "I heard about Finn. I'm sorry for your loss."

Kurt nodded. "Thanks."

They turned on the path that led toward the shelter, walking side by side.

"This is my daughter, Rose Alexandra Smythe. She was born March 18th to my parents, who were unfortunately killed in a car accident three months later. I adopted her rather than fool around with some type of guardianship. It was all finally settled about three weeks ago. There was a lot of legal stuff. She and I have dual citizenship and the whole process turned out to be more of a nightmare than I had anticipated. It involved us having to go to the French Consulate in Cleveland."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Sebastian."

"I don't want to tell the story over again. So, I'm not going to. I only told you in act of good faith to prove that I've changed. If people can't accept the two of us without a story, then I'll just look elsewhere. I don't want her to hear the story until she is much older and if people know, they'll talk."

"I won't say anything. This is Aliza Grace Hummel. She was born June 18th."

"So, they're three months apart."

Kurt kept walking past the fork in the path that led to the picnic shelter and followed the path that circled back around toward the parking lot where Kurt had parked.

"Did you change your mind?"

"Aliza did. She needs a new diaper. I could smell it when we were standing still back there."

"Oh, I think I've lost my ability to smell because all I ever smell is dirty diaper or spit up."

Kurt laughed. "Come on. You can change Rose in the back of my CRV."

Once both girls were changed, Kurt shut the back. They tossed the diapers in the trashcan on the edge of the parking lot.

"I think I'm going to go buy one of those."

"One of what?"

"A CRV. My back is breaking from changing her in the backseat of my car. She's going to be in diapers for quite a while. I need a better place to change her when we're out."

"I've only had this one a few months, but I like it. It gets better gas mileage than my Navigator did, but has more room than a car."

"I'm sold. I'm going tomorrow."

"You're just going to buy a new one outright?"

"No, I'll trade in my car and one of the ones sitting in the garage that no one will ever drive. That should be enough."

"Right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I was a spoiled rich kid. I did grow up though, and not just because of what happened in June. I was sincere when I apologized that day back a year and a half ago."

"I accepted your apology then. I should act like I did. I'm sorry for the snide remark, really. Shall we actually join the picnic this time?"

"I was going to walk around the path and observe first. If everyone looks like they're 25 or no one else has babies, I'm not sure."

"Let's go see." Kurt pushed the stroller back towards the picnic shelter.

They walked back around and saw a group of women in their mid-to-late 20s with kids or older toddlers, but no babies.

"Well, it looks like we don't fit in," Kurt said. "That's nothing new. Are you willing to risk being stared at or interrogated? If not, I brought an enchilada casserole to share and my own tableware. We could just go sit somewhere else in the park and have our own picnic."

"That actually sounds like a better idea," Sebastian said.

A half-hour later, they had finished eating and were walking around the park again. Aliza started to fuss. Kurt took her out of stroller and carried her, but she didn't quiet down.

"She's hungry. Let's go sit on those benches up there under those trees so I can feed her." He fastened her back in the stroller and walked as quickly as he could. He pulled out a bottle and held her again while he fed her.

When Rose saw Aliza with a bottle, she started to fuss.

Kurt said, "Monkey see, monkey do."

Sebastian grabbed a bottle and held Rose to feed her as well. "I'm just going to say it. If someone had told me a year and a half ago that you and I would be feeding our daughters while sitting on a park bench in a public park in Columbus, I would have thought they were high."

"Me too, but it's actually really nice. I've basically been a hermit since June. I took four classes first summer session and two the second session. I wanted to be in the same classes with the other sophomores when classes started. That had been my plan before Aliza came along. I started a semester late, but I wanted to be caught up by the fall. And I did it."

"How did you manage with a baby?"

"Mimi, which is what Carole wants to be called, came down and stayed until I got back from class."

"She drove from Lima?"

"They moved to Huntsville."

Sebastian looked clueless.

"It's about 30 minutes from Lima and 45 from where I live in Dublin."

"That's a good place for her to live."

"Yeah, she and my dad bought a smaller place in Huntsville after Finn died. After Sam moved out, they moved into the new place. They're 30 minutes closer to the airport for my dad flying in and out. They downsized since Finn's gone and I don't live with them anymore. I did for a couple of weeks after Aliza was born."

"I live in Dublin too. I inherited all of my parents' stuff, so the house is mine now."

"I think I've had enough of the park for today," Kurt said when Aliza finished her bottle. "You and Rose are welcome to come over. We could order a pizza later or something."

"Sure. As you mentioned, I've also mostly been a hermit for the last two and a half months."

They put the girls back in their strollers and headed towards where Kurt had parked.

Kurt said, "I hadn't really considered people asking nosy questions. I tend to keep things close to the vest. I'm not sure I'm ready for an open group. I didn't see any single dads. It looks more like a support group for single moms with deadbeat dads, which is a great thing, but not what I'm looking for."

"Me neither. We gave it a shot and we met back up. I mean you got to spend the afternoon at the park with me. It can't be all bad."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

They changed both girls in the back of the CRV again. Kurt fastened Aliza in and waited with Rose for Sebastian to come back in his car since he had parked in the lot on the other side of the park. Once Sebastian came back, he put Rose in her car seat, packed up her stroller, and followed Kurt to his apartment.

* * *

Sebastian parked across the drive in one of the visitor's spots like Kurt had told him to. Kurt put Aliza's carrier inside and waited for him outside on the sidewalk in front of the apartment. Sebastian followed him in and pushed the door closed behind him. He did his best to hide his shock to find Kurt living in an efficiency. He had been too focused on crossing the drive to pay attention to the building as he walked up.

"They can nap together in Aliza's crib, if you're okay with that."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Rose is able to get up on her hands and knees sometimes, so we'll have to lower it down first."

"Right. Aliza's not able to roll over yet, but we can lower it."

They worked together to lower the mattress down to its lowest setting.

"Rose can roll from her tummy to her back, but not the other way very often. So, it's not all that likely that she could do all of it in a row, but I didn't want to risk it," Sebastian said, as he laid her in the crib gently.

"It's fine. I was going to have to lower it at some point anyway."

Kurt got Aliza out of her carrier and put her in the crib with Rose.

"The sea creatures are cute. I didn't see anything like that when I went out with my mom, but she was pretty determined to go with the all pink-and-white princess theme."

Kurt smiled. "I made all of her stuff. She has the same stuff at my parents' house. Between when I came back from New York and when my classes started in Lima, I spent my time sewing everything. I just thought the sea stuff was really fun and colorful."

"It is. I need to go shopping and get her some new clothes. She's getting too big for what she has. The dresses are fine, but her onsies and sleepers are getting too short."

"Would you like something to drink? I don't have a lot of choices, but you're welcome to what I have." He opened the fridge for Sebastian to choose.

"Some cold water actually sounds the best right now."

Kurt pulled out a Brita pitcher and a glass and filled it up. He poured himself a small glass of orange juice.

"With them being three months apart, Aliza could probably wear what Rose has outgrown pretty soon. You're welcome to them. You could come over some time or I can bring them over here."

"I didn't buy a lot because I knew she'd grow pretty quickly, but I appreciate the offer. Maybe we can go shopping with you."

"Sure. So, you moved here for the second summer session?"

"Um, yeah. Like I said, I did the first four classes at OSU Lima. I lived with my parents for free and worked when I could to save up for the stuff I'd need."

"Worked?"

"In my dad's shop, as a mechanic. The pay is good, and since he owns the place, I could pretty much work whenever I had time."

Sebastian put his empty glass in the sink and went and sat on the couch. "I'm surprised they rented an efficiency to you with a baby."

"I can only stay until the end of December. I have to find something else by then."

"What do you with Aliza do while you're in class?"

"I got a special waiver to register early due to extenuating circumstances. So, I just have class on Monday/Wednesday/Friday this semester. Mimi comes and stays with her while I go to class. I didn't want to put her in daycare so soon. I'm looking into other options for next semester. I can't have her driving that far when the weather could be terrible. Plus, she has her own life, and she has my dad."

"She's Finn's, isn't she?"

"What?" The color drained from Kurt's face.

"I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I swear. No one from Dalton is going to school here, and I'm pretty sure none of your Glee friends do either. From what I heard, Finn enlisted, shot himself in the leg, and was gone for months. He died, and now you're raising a baby that's not yours. I think the mother came to your family and didn't want her. And you couldn't live with letting Finn's baby go to anyone else or live unwanted with her mother."

"Even if that were true, it doesn't matter because I'm her dad. There was no adoption, nothing." Kurt's voice became more defensive as he spoke. "My name is on her birth certificate. Her mother isn't in the picture and won't ever be."

"Hey, I'm sorry." He sighed heavily. "I should have kept my mouth shut. I know you're her dad. That's obvious to anyone who sees the two of you together. Won't your Glee Club pals figure it out?"

"I'm hoping not. Most of them are too self-absorbed to really think about it. When I got my acceptance letters this April, I told everyone that I decided to accept the offer from Ohio State. No one really questioned me. My dad had just finished his cancer treatments and Finn had died. Rachel dropped out of NYADA because she got the lead in _Funny Girl_. Everyone was mad at me about turning down Blaine's proposal. So, I was being passive-aggressively ignored, which was actually good because the less they interfered the better. I was going to school full-time and working two jobs. The tuition at NYADA was outrageous and my dad had just managed to pay off all of the bills from when he was in a coma after a heart attack my junior year. It took forever because we had to move into a bigger house a few weeks after they had gotten married. My dad and I lived in a small 2-bedroom place and so did Finn and Carole, but they were renting. And now they have all of the bills from the cancer treatments. It won't take as long to pay those off this time because the payments on the new house are so much lower and he's making more money and better insurance now than he did back then. Plus, with the two of them moving to Huntsville, when I go to visit them, I won't be in Lima, so there's little chance of me running into anyone associated with the Glee Club. And other to work in my dad's shop, I really have no other reason to step foot in Lima."

"Look, I'm sorry, again. We've never spent five minutes getting to know each other. Maybe we should start there. We obviously have some life circumstances in common, raising a daughter at 19. At least I assume you're 19."

"I am. I'll be 20 next week, on the 9th."

"Mine's March 16th, so you're six months older than I am. Let's see – we also had New York as our goal for college. I had been accepted to Columbia, which is my dad's alma mater. I had applied to other places and Ohio State as a back up, at Dalton's school counselor's insistence. We all had to apply to at least one state school in our home state. When the accident happened, I made an appointment with the Dean of the Architecture Department and explained my situation. He helped me get my acceptance reinstated so I could enroll at OSU for the fall."

"Like I said, when I got acceptance letters this spring, I chose to come back to Ohio and go to school here. I knew I couldn't raise a baby in New York, even if I had wanted to. I could barely keep my head above water working two part-time jobs. So, I finished out the semester at NYADA. And now, here I am."

"That makes sense. I can see why you think that no one will question you coming back to Ohio."

"Why did you agree to help Blaine? You said you knew that he had cheated on me."


	3. Chapter 3

"Yeah, well Sam texted me on their way to Dalton to ask us to host the proposal and told me that you knew about the 'surprise' proposal. He assured me that you were going to turn him down because of the cheating. He said you had told Blaine that you weren't getting back together with him about a million times and he wouldn't listen. I thought maybe if you told him in front of 60 or 70 people he might actually listen."

"I knew Sam had texted you. I didn't know he told you about the cheating. I just wondered why you agreed since I thought you liked him."

"Honestly, I was annoyed that he existed. It was 'Blaine did this' and 'Blaine did that' and 'We should just do it the way Blaine used to do it'. They all acted like he was some show choir god, but he hadn't gotten them past Sectionals the year before, so I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. All of the gay or bi guys seemed miffed because he went out with you and then left. I just played him. He loves attention. That was obvious from the second he walked into the Warblers' practice room that day with the tickets for _West Side Story_. He played up that bashful schoolboy thing when he knew they all worshiped the ground he walked on. He soaked up every bit of attention lavished on him by them, and then by me when I asked him to stay and have coffee with me. I asked him to help me … what was it…?" He shook his head when he remembered. "I told him that I had heard that he was sex on a stick and sang like a dream. I told him that I was working to recreate his meteoric ascent."

"Oh, God. What a load of BS."

"Hey, that 'sex on a stick' comment is a verbatim quote from someone who will remain nameless. I seriously wanted to find out why everyone thought he was the best thing to ever happen to the Warblers. I wanted to be that guy. I won the lead singer position when he didn't come back, but I didn't have the persuasive power that he had and I wanted to know how to get it. I really did want to recreate his 'meteoric ascent'. I wanted to be able to get the group to do what we needed to do to win."

"I tried to get them to branch out, but I failed. You eventually succeeded in getting them to dance. Blaine's leadership had the two of us singing a break-up song as a duet while the group stood in place behind us basically 'ooh-ing' and 'ah-ing'. Not a good way to win, which of course we didn't."

"I saw the video of that. That was a bad arrangement of a poorly chosen song, sung in a key that did not suit Blaine's voice. You sounded unusual. Sorry to sound derogatory. The first time I listened, I thought you were singing off pitch, but I dug out the sheet music. And you sang what you were told to. It was just wrong in way that I can't put into words."

Kurt chuckled. "That just about sums up my whole relationship with Blaine."

"Anyway, they all thought he was amazing and I wanted to know why. I was also curious as to why he came alone and why he was willing to spend time with me when I was being obviously flirtatious, yet he had a boyfriend."

"I wondered the same thing, many, many times," Kurt said in a defeated tone. "You came in guns blazing and wanted to take him from me. I was in a bad place. I had been in a bad place for years. He was my only light that the time. Even though he wasn't really, that's how I felt at the time. It had been repeatedly made clear to me that Blaine was the best, most amazing guy, and that I was lucky that he would deign to date me. You made what was a bad situation so much worse. You were the second out gay guy I had met and I wasn't worth your time, but my boyfriend was. Old news, same news, but it hurt more because I had always thought once I was able to be around more gay guys that my life would be easier, but you proved to me that it wasn't the case. At McKinley, Blaine proved that it wasn't because I was gay that people didn't like me. It was because I was me."

Sebastian seemed confused.

"The Glee guys accepted Blaine, but not me. I had always thought that they didn't include me because I was gay and to some extent because of my unusual clothing choices and my interest in things they didn't care about like fashion and Broadway, and the fact that I loved songs sung by women. But it turned out that wasn't it at all. Blaine dressed the way a first grader colors pictures – solid color separates, mostly in primary colors."

Sebastian chuckled.

"And he liked singing songs made famous by women. And he liked musicals too. But he was one of the guys. He likes watching football and professional basketball games on TV, but other than that, he doesn't really have any masculine hobbies besides boxing. And then you, the second out gay guy I met, made fun of me for the same reasons the bullies at school did."

"You seemed so sure of yourself and you gave as good as you got."

"Self-defense – years and years of using words as my only defense, despite the fact that they were never enough. I'm not a violent person."

"Violent? What does violence have to do with this?"

Kurt quickly explained the physical and verbal abuse at school, including Dave's threat.

"You seemed so unflappable. I really didn't realize. No one told me any of that."

"I didn't tell the guys at Dalton any of those things. I had nothing in common with them and telling them those things would have made me even more different. I was told repeatedly that we wore blazers for a reason and that blending in would make me feel more like part of the school."

"Blaine looked like he shopped in the little kids department and didn't know the right size clothes to buy. Polos with bow ties and primary-colored chinos with suspenders? It was a cross between toddler dressed up for photos and grandpa who didn't know how to dress himself most of the time."

Kurt laughed. "That's really funny because I once told Quinn that Rachel dressed like a cross between a toddler and a grandmother."

Sebastian laughed as well. "I must have missed that phase. Blaine telling you to fit in is pretty ironic though. I'm pretty sure you weren't born to fit in. You stand out. You're unique. You always looked like you had walked off a runway."

Kurt was flummoxed. "Was that a compliment? I might die of shock," he snarked back.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I did and said lot of stupid things. Your looks and the way you dressed were never really an issue, except for keeping how attractive I thought you were under wraps. I almost blew it the day we met. You shook my hand and my eyes began to wander and I had to get a grip to keep up my ruse." Sebastian's mind drifted a bit. "After Dave's attempt, I realized that I liked who I was even less than I had liked myself before."

This time it was Kurt that looked confused.

"I brought a lot of that cockiness back from Paris with me. I was such a geeky nerd before I went. I wasn't popular in middle school. When I went to live with my grandparents, I was able to fake my way into the popular group of guys at school. Being American helped. Due to the cultural differences, they had no way to know what a total nerd I actually was. I just wanted to be popular. Being gay was fine there, and I came out nearly immediately. I hadn't come out here, except to my family. The guys at school got me a fake ID and I started going to gay bars and observing. I wanted to be something – someone I wasn't. I paid attention and I just began to imitate them."

"How long where you in Paris?"

"Two years. I was having trouble fitting in. I was being bulled and I was unhappy here. You obviously know how middle school in Ohio is for the non-popular kids. My parents discussed the option of sending me to Dalton starting in 9th grade or letting me spend the first two years of high school back in France. My mom went with me in July after the 8th grade."

Kurt nodded.

"She came to stay with me during July the other two summers that I spent there. She and I had spent several Julys there over the years. She came back with me right before school started here my junior year. I came back for winter break the two years I was there. We had lived there before when I was younger. Anyway, I came back and tried to be someone I'm not. And I hurt people doing it. Obviously, I hurt you a lot more than I had realized. I saw it sort of like a sparring match between us. I'm sarcastic. That's just me. And I like to tease. There was no one to joke with at Dalton. But I took it too far because you didn't see it as a game." He sighed. "Why did you invite me over? After what you've told me, I'm not sure why you're even willing to speak to me."

"It took about 30 seconds of seeing you with Rose to realize that you had either completely changed or you weren't actually as awful as I had thought you were. You apologized back then and you apologized again today. I figured you weren't keeping your playboy lifestyle with a baby in your care."

"I was never a playboy, but that's exactly what I made everyone think. That was part of the suave persona I was hoping to pull off. I wanted my last two years of school to be fun and I thought if everyone thought I was the guy who could have anyone that I could stop being – I don't even know anymore. The whole idea was stupid."

"Well, when I heard 'It doesn't bother me, if it doesn't bother you.' as the first words to come out of your mouth, 'playboy' popped right to the top of words that came to mind."

Sebastian laughed. "I'm sorry. He had acted so flabbergasted when I mentioned putting Courvoisier in my coffee in Paris that I just kept going. He was being so flirty that I was trying to figure out what exactly it was that he was willing to do to keep my attention when he already had a gorgeous boyfriend. Why would he be so flirty with me?"

"Well, for starters, he never considered me to be gorgeous. And as for why, he craves attention."

Sebastian nodded.

"Oh, and don't forget that little spiel about meeting the love of your life on the dance floor and the relationship lasting 20 minutes."

"Oh, God. I had forgotten I said that. I most certainly had NOT previously met the love of my life on the dance floor at Scandals. Middle-aged bears are not my type. I had never even been there. I found it on Google."

"Anyway, we don't need to rehash this. He and I are over. He cheated on me. End of relationship. I have no residual feelings for him. I'm not going back to him. He's at NYADA now. I wish him well and I hope he likes it. That's it. I went to counseling and worked through my issues. I saw someone all summer as well to help me with the transition to fatherhood."

"Dr. Colton?"

Kurt nodded.

"I saw him too. The hospital social worker recommended him. He's been helpful."

"He was. Back to our 'get-to-know-each-other' conversation. Besides our age, gender, sexual orientation, relationship status, fatherhood, and the fact that we both like to sing and we now attend the same college, do we have anything else in common?"

"I know you probably thought my parents were homophobic jackasses because of the way I acted when we first met, but that's the farthest thing from the truth. My parents were the most amazing and loving people. I got a baby sister from my parents' 20th anniversary trip. My mom obviously thought that she couldn't get pregnant at 46, but she was mistaken. Anyway, my parents were totally in love 20 years in, well really 25 years because they didn't get married until after my dad passed the Bar Exam, but they had been together for five years already. So, we both grew up with parents who loved us."

"My sincerest condolences, really. People saying 'I'm sorry for your loss' always bothered me. That's one thing we have in common. We've both lost our moms. I was eight when mine died."

"I didn't know. I just figured that your parents were divorced. I knew Finn was your stepbrother."

"Mmm hmm. Carole chose the name Mimi for herself. I couldn't really bring myself to call her mom, but I didn't want to call her Carole in front of Aliza all the time. Mimi seemed like a good solution. My dad hasn't really been around her enough for me to have that issue with him. Are your dad's parents around?"

"They're retired and they live in Westerville. They're really great, but they're in their early 70s, so they're a little on the old side to be of much help. I take Rose to see them every other week. My mom's parents were going to come in July instead of me going there this year, but Mamie came down with some kind of flu or nasty cold and they didn't come. Maybe at Christmas? My dad has an older brother, but he lives in Denver with his wife. Their two kids are grown and have already graduated from college. They still live in the Denver area. Dad and Uncle Arthur were pretty close and kept in contact with each other, but we never did much with them. I don't think Aunt Lynn and my mom had much in common."

"My dad's father died before my mom did. His mother died when I was 12. His Aunt Mildred, who is his mother's sister, lives in Toledo. Neither of them cared for me and my 'girly ways'. My dad has a younger brother named Andy who lives in Toledo too. My mom's family was never spoken of. I've never had the nerve to ask."

Aliza began to stir. Kurt got up to check on her. When he leaned over the crib, she started kicking and boxing in excitement. He picked her up and kissed her on the forehead. "Good afternoon, beautiful," he said quietly. He moved away from the crib, hoping that Rose would continue to sleep if she needed to. He sat back down on the couch with Sebastian. He faced her towards Sebastian and said, "Aliza, this is Sebastian. He's Daddy's new friend. And he has a beautiful little girl too." He kissed the top of her head and bounced her gently.

Sebastian reached out and Aliza wrapped her hand around his finger when he touched it. "Hello, Aliza." He moved his finger a bit. "It's nice to make your acquaintance."

She kicked her feet.

"I think she likes you," Kurt said.

"What's not to like?" he asked, as he winked at Aliza.

"What do you like on pizza? Or we could order something else. I haven't actually ordered anything since we moved in."

"There's this really good Indian place that delivers, if you like Indian food."

"I do."

"I'll order. I confess to having ordered from them at least once a week this summer. I'm still working on learning to cook. Mamie cooked for us when I was in Paris. When I came back, I was at Dalton, except on weekends. And my mom cooked then."

"I could teach you to cook."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just don't have a whole lot here right now. We could go to the grocery store and I could cook instead of ordering in."

"We'll do that another time." He pulled up the menu from the Indian place to let Kurt choose, and then he called the order in, moving the phone towards Kurt for him to give the address.

_Another time_ , Kurt thought. His day hadn't gone at all the way he thought it would, but it was turning out nicer than he had expected.

Aliza began to fuss a bit. Kurt cradled her in his arms and began to sing a lullaby to her quietly while he rocked her slightly.

Sebastian eyes widened and he waited for Kurt to finish. "That's the same song I sing to Rose. It's the one my mom sang to me."

"My mom sang it to me as well."

"Your mom spoke French?"

"Yes. She was a French teacher. She taught for five years before I was born. She stayed home with me until I was four. When I went to preschool, she went back to teaching. She ended up having to quit when I was in the second grade because she got sick. That was one thing I really liked about Dalton – the French teacher was so much fun and she actually spoke French well."

"I assume you mean Mademoiselle Duprés."

"I do, indeed. She made class fun and we learned a lot. Hers was the first class where I actually read French books as part of a class. She taught me a lot more about writing literary papers than I had ever learned in English class at McKinley."

Rose started to stir. Sebastian got up to get her. "Where should I change her?"

"There's a storage box with the wheels on one end that's under the crib. That has the changing pad in it. I don't have anywhere to put a changing table, so I'm just using it in the crib for now. Once we move someplace with more space, I'll get the dresser with the changing table top like Mimi got."

Sebastian pulled it out of the box and put it in the crib. Once he finished, he was going to put it away, but Kurt stopped him and changed Aliza as well. Once they cleaned up, the four of them sat down on the couch. Sebastian ended up scooting closer because Rose kept trying to reach out to touch Aliza.

"Rose, this is my new friend Kurt and his baby girl, Aliza."

Aliza kicked her feet and Rose made cute squealy baby noises.

"I have a playmat that I can put down and we can let them lay on their tummies for a while."

"Sure."

Kurt got it laid out and they got the girls situated. They sat down on the floor and played with them for a while. When the delivery driver knocked on the door, Sebastian answered. He brought the bag back and sat it on the counter. Kurt went over and got some plates out. Once they had plated their food, they sat down at the table.

"I was serious about the CRV, but I've never bought a car. I don't want to get ripped off. If I showed you the vehicles that are in the garage at home, could you help me determine their value?"

"Sure. I don't have class tomorrow, if you actually want to go then."

"I have class until 12:30. I could go after that."

"I can do that. This is actually really good. You'll have to give me the name of the place in case I just have to have some Indian food some evening."

Sebastian pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it on the table. "Put your number in, and I'll text it to you. And my address, so you know where to come tomorrow. I don't live that far from here."

Kurt picked the phone up. He put 'Kurt and Aliza' as his name and gave it back.

Sebastian texted him with the information. Kurt saved his number as 'Sebastian and Rose'.

"How much did dinner come to, so I can give you my half?" Kurt reached for his wallet after he put his phone back in his pocket.

"My treat. You're going to help me with getting a more functional vehicle. I can treat for dinner."

"You're sure?"

Sebastian nodded. "I'm sure." He turned back to look at the two girls on the mat on the floor. "You never did say what you're studying."

"Oh, Music Education with a French endorsement. A lot of smaller schools don't have the budget to hire a full-time music teacher, but if I can teach French as well, that will increase my chances of getting a position somewhere."

"That makes sense. NYADA is a performing arts school though."

"It is. Performing is something that's done in the evenings when getting reliable childcare is a lot harder. Plus, it's sporadic. I could get a role in a Broadway show that closes after a 6-month run. I could spend six months auditioning to get another role. That doesn't provide the kind of security I need now. Once Aliza is older, I could audition for roles then – if I live in a city large enough to have community or professional theatre options."

Sebastian let it drop, realizing that it had to be a sore spot. He was changing his plans to raise his sister and Kurt was changing his to raise a baby that was his stepniece. Now, they both had daughters. Good fathers did what they needed to in order to provide for their children.

"You mentioned architecture."

"Yeah. I'm considering City and Regional Planning or Landscape Architecture. I'm not sure which yet. I'm taking courses that are required for both degrees this semester. I have an appointment with both department chairs next week to talk about my options. My long-term goal is still going to Columbia for their graduate program in architecture. It's a full 1-year program – June to the following May. I wouldn't have to sell the house and Rose would be ready for pre-school. It just depends on a lot of things."

"I took placement tests and I tested out of all of the French courses that I would need to take to get the French endorsement. I'm going to do what I can to still take drama and dance courses along with the required courses I need for the Music Education program. I know they won't be as intense as the ones at NYADA, but maybe they'll be enjoyable, which would be a positive change."

"You didn't like NYADA?"

"Yes and no. I liked learning, but I'm hoping to do that here with more enjoyment. For example, our dance instructor called everyone by a nickname. She called Rachel 'David Schwimmer' and me 'China Doll', which is less annoying than other names I've been called, but I'd rather just be called Kurt or even Hummel."

About the time they finished eating, the girls started to fuss.

"That's my cue to head home," Sebastian said. "I don't have any more formula with me."

"Well, thanks for dinner. I'll clean up. I'll be over tomorrow at 1:00?"

"Sounds good." Sebastian put Rose in her carrier, grabbed her diaper bag, and headed out.

* * *

The next afternoon, Kurt pulled up to the address he had been given. Once he pulled into the driveway past the trees that blocked the view of the house along the street in front, he was actually surprised by the normalness of the house. It was a red brick one-story with a wrap-around porch. It was on a corner lot, but it wasn't overly large or ostentatious in any way. After he got closer, he saw that the 3-car garage actually ran perpendicular to the house along the side street, which was lined with tall evergreen bushes that formed a solid hedge about eight feet high. He pulled to the end of the drive and parked. Sebastian came out to greet him. He grabbed Aliza's diaper bag from the seat next to her, while Kurt grabbed Aliza in her car seat.

Sebastian stepped up onto a small side porch with a nice gas grill on it. "Have you eaten?" he asked as he opened the door into the house.

"I did, but thanks."

"I'll just finish up then." He let Kurt walk in first, closing the door behind them, and rearming the security system.

They stepped into a small entryway. To the right was an open kitchen and dining area. The kitchen was in a small section that extended past the edge of the rest of the house, with cabinets on all three sides and an island in the center. The ceiling of the extension was sloped up towards the center and higher than the dining area, and a row of windows ran along the top edge of the upper cabinets with a triangular window above them. There was also a regular height window on each side. The one to the right overlooked the small porch with the grill, and the other overlooked the wrap-around porch and had a double sink underneath.

Kurt put Aliza's carrier on the floor next to the table. He faced Sebastian, who stood at the island finishing the slice of pizza he had on a paper towel. He tossed the paper towel into a trashcan in a cabinet under the island and washed his hands. "Ready for the tour?"

"Sure."

He stepped into the dining area next to the long wood table that sat six people, with his back to the kitchen area. He looked to his right. "You can obviously see into the living room." He pointed to the farthest doors on the wall he was facing. "Next to the coat closet is a half-bath. The door to the left of it leads into a pantry. It has a small chest freezer in it. My mom was big on making bi-weekly menus and stocking up, only stopping every few days to get fresh fruits or veggies at the small market not far from here." He pointed to his far left. "That short hall leads to the laundry room and out to the back porch." He moved and walked towards the hallway that was off the dining room leading away from the room to the rest of the house. He stopped before actually walking into it. "Over here are the bedrooms. Come on. I'll show you."

Kurt followed him, leaving Aliza asleep in her car seat in the dining area.

Sebastian continued to speak quietly. "There are three bedrooms that are pretty much the same size that share this bathroom." He pointed to his right. "Past the bathroom, that door in the smaller alcove leads to my parents room. To be honest, I've not been in there. My dad used this bedroom," he pointed to his left, "as his office. I had some movers pack up his books, and I had them put them and his file cabinet in the walk-in closet in their bedroom." His voice quavered and he took a second to regroup. "I'm not ready to look through them yet. My mom had already moved the bed from the corner room in here when she turned it into Rose's room." He opened her door quietly.

Kurt peeked in and it was every bit the princess room that Sebastian had said it was. The walls were a light dusty pink and everything was pink, white, and lacy except for the furniture itself, which was dark wood like the rest of the house.

Sebastian closed the door back silently. "This is my room." He pointed to the room opposite Rose's. He opened the door.

The walls were painted a warm pale green and he had a deep pine green quilt on a twin-sized bed. Kurt couldn't see much else from where he was standing.

"There's a second full bath in my parents' room."

Kurt nodded.

"So, that's it. You've seen everything besides the inside of the laundry room. There's no basement." He went back to the dining room.

Kurt followed him. "It's nice and cozy. To be honest, I figured you lived in a much larger place."

"My parents were quite frugal. My mom grew up with money, but my dad did not. And while the name 'State's Attorney' seems like something that pays a lot, it really doesn't. Your dad makes a lot more as a US Congressman than my dad did as the State's Attorney. My parents valued education, art, music, and time spent together more than acquiring a lot of material possessions, other than the few valuable paintings they bought. We went on trips and to concerts, shows, and museums, rather than living in a huge house."

"So, when you said you grew up spoiled, that meant that your parents took you places, not that they bought you a 55" TV for your room?"

Sebastian laughed. "We have one TV. I'm certain that it's not that big. It's in the living room."

"Well, you're just blowing all of the ideas I had formed in my mind when we first met."

"That's a good thing because I'm pretty sure you didn't have any pleasant thoughts about me. You don't have to answer. Are you ready to help me get a more practical vehicle?" Sebastian led him the other door in the small entryway where they had come in. He opened it and stepped out into the garage. He left the door open. "So, besides my car, I have a truck and this car. The truck was actually my mom's."

"The truck would be more practical to keep. You can haul things in it and it's an extended cab so you could still put a car seat in the backseat. The larger sedan will just looks nicer and more formal than a truck, but it's less practical overall."

"True. So, I know this car is not that new. Is there a way to look up the value?"

"Yep. If you open the driver's side door, I can get the year the car was made. After that, I'll look at the engine and see what kind of condition it's in and we can figure it out."


	4. Chapter 4

An hour later, they were at the Honda dealership. Kurt had driven Sebastian's dad's car and Sebastian had driven his own car. After negotiations and a couple of test drives, the four of them left in a metallic dark green 2013 CRV.

Kurt offered to stay at Sebastian's house with Rose while he went to the license branch to take care of the title and licensing. Kurt sat at the desk in what was now Sebastian's guest room and did homework while both girls took a nap. A couple of hours later Sebastian returned. Kurt got up and went into the dining area.

"Everything go okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for all of your help earlier. I'm sure I wouldn't have fared nearly as well if you hadn't come. Your persuasion skills are top notch."

"I don't like to see people taken advantage of. And I'm glad you're pleased. If you don't mind, can I stay until Aliza wakes up? I've got about another hour of work to do."

"Sure. I have some stuff to work on too. I'll be in my room."

They went their separate ways and worked in silence. Aliza woke up when Kurt had just a few pages of reading left to do. He went to get her quickly hoping that she wouldn't startle Rose, but they were actually both awake when he went in the room. He picked Aliza up and bounced her and realized she was fussing because she needed changed, which he did quickly and went back out in the hallway. He met Sebastian coming in on his way out. He went back into the guest room and managed to finish his reading while bouncing Aliza on his lap. He closed his book and took her into the kitchen to get her bottle ready. He sat her in her car seat while he worked on it. Once he had it ready, he picked her back up and swayed gently while she drank the formula. Sebastian came in and started the same process for Rose.

"I'm going to venture into feeding her food in about a month. I'm waiting until she can sit up really well first. And I need to get a high chair. And maybe one of those floor mats I saw so that I don't end up with food on the hardwood floor every meal."

"That sounds like a good idea. I haven't gotten that far yet. I figured I'd start to research over winter break."

Sebastian began to feed Rose. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'll even let you cook," he teased. "You can use anything you can find."

"Sure." He propped Aliza's bottle under his chin long enough to open the pantry door and open the chest freezer. He didn't find much, but he did see a package of ground turkey, a bag of broccoli pieces, and some frozen onions and peppers that he could use. He saw some potatoes in a basket on the shelf. He went back into the kitchen and looked in the cabinets and the refrigerator. "Does it have to fit some criteria or can it just taste good?"

"Whatever is fine. I'm not picky. I just don't really know how to make anything taste that good. I mean I eat what I make, but it's just eating to eat."

"You said your mom used a bi-weekly menu?"

"Yeah, she did and she kept them. I think she just eventually came up with like 20 of them and just randomly chose one before she went to the store, but the problem is that I didn't find any shopping lists to go with them. And even if I had, they would have been for three people. She made the same amount when I wasn't home and she just ate the leftovers for lunch the next day. I don't actually know what to buy just from looking at the menu. Lasagna and asparagus sounds fine, except that I have no idea what to buy to make the lasagna. I'm not stupid. I know I need lasagna noodles, sauce, cheese and meat, but I don't know how much of each or how to prep each part. And I don't know how to pick good asparagus."

"I'm sure she must have had a cookbook."

"She has several, but they're in her room because she liked to look through them for ideas for dinner parties."

"Maybe she had the recipes on her phone or tablet, if she had one."

"She might, but I haven't been able to bring myself to go in her room and get her iPad."

"Well, if you ever decide you want it and you want me to go in there and get it, I will."

Sebastian nodded. He focused on paying attention to Rose while he fed her. Once he finished he burped her and put her in a reclining bouncer with some toys suspended from a bar for her to play with. "I'll hold Aliza while you cook, if you don't want to put her back in her car seat."

Kurt handed her over to him. "You can observe from a safe distance. I'm going to grab some stuff I saw in the pantry." Kurt collected up everything and put it on the counter. He talked while he worked, explaining what he was doing. A half-hour later, Kurt plated turkey sausage skillet potatoes with peppers and onions with broccoli on the side. The quiche had been prepped first was still in the oven. He put the plates on the table. Sebastian put Aliza in her car seat and sat down with Kurt.

"You didn't have to make me breakfast too."

"You'll be able to eat it for the rest of the week. It's even tolerable cold and it's a lot faster than a bowl of cereal."

Sebastian smiled. "I'm sure it will be great." He took a bite of the potatoes. "This is really good. It wasn't hard. I think I need to spend some time learning about how to season food and cooking times. I have that grill outside, but I don't know how long to cook anything. This summer it was just too hard anyway, but for next summer, I want to be able to use it."

"You'll need a meat thermometer. There's probably one here somewhere. You seem to have every kitchen gadget and appliance you could possibly need."

"My mom enjoyed cooking a lot. I wish I had taken the time to learn from her. I was just being a self-centered teen and didn't think about how important all of the things my parents knew were. I just thought I had plenty of time to learn and didn't bother."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. No one expects to lose their parents so young. I only know all of it because I lost my mom so young and all my dad could do was heat soup in the microwave and cook frozen pizzas. I wanted what my mom made. She had photocopied recipes from cookbooks and put them in a binder and added all of her own improvements on the pages. I studied them and looked up what all of the words meant that I didn't know. I started with the ones that looked the easiest and went from there. Sometimes I misjudged the difficulty level until I realized that I had to add together the prep time and the cooking time. My dad loves to tell the story of how I wrecked the kitchen in the middle of the night when I was nine and I was trying to make paella."

"In the middle of the night?"

"I woke up and couldn't sleep."

"I like the broccoli like this. It's nice and crunchy. When I tried to make it, I obviously overcooked it."

"Well, it's all personal preference. You'll just have to experiment and keep track of your results."

"I think I just need to learn to make some all-in-one meals first. I'm here with Rose every night. Tonight she was entertained and happy while we were cooking, but that's not always the case. Sometimes, I just have to live with a cold sandwich or a can of microwaved soup."

"Crock-Pot recipes. That's where I'd start. Maybe you can stop by a bookstore and look through the cookbooks for slow cookers and buy the one that has the most meals that look appealing to you. That way you can just put everything in and let it cook on its own. You can pack the leftovers from dinner to eat for lunch the next day like your mom did."

"I'll do that."

They finished eating just as the timer went off for the quiche. Kurt got up and pulled it out. Sebastian cleared the table and washed the dishes that couldn't go in the dishwasher. Kurt put everything that he had used while he was cooking back where it had been.

When he finished putting the dishes away, Sebastian said, "I went through Rose's clothes when we got back last night. I put everything she's outgrown in a bag. There are some dresses that you'll probably need to get some of those tight pants to go under."

"Leggings." Kurt picked Aliza up and followed Sebastian down to Rose's room.

"Right. Mostly she had sleepers because I didn't go out and get her any clothes beyond what she already had. Mom had sleepers in 0-3 and 3-6 months already. We stayed home most of the time or just went out for walks in the park. I didn't see the point in buying anything else since I have a washing machine. I just washed her clothes every few days."

"I've done the same. When Aliza gets older, I'm sure I'll want to have fun with making her some crazy colorful outfits, but from when she starts to crawl until she can walk well, dresses are pretty useless unless she's just going to be carried around all day. They don't work that well in the car seat or the stroller either. Most of the time, I think I'll probably go with short or long leggings and babydoll tops, which are basically shirts that are longer and look similar to a dress. I'll show you when we go out shopping."

Sebastian opened her closet and pulled out a grocery tote bag with clothes in it. "You'll go with me?"

"Sure."

"That will make things easier." He handed the bag to Kurt.

"Thanks. I really appreciate this. It will save me a lot of money. Once she's outgrown them, we can take them to Once Upon a Child and sell them and you can use the store credit to buy Rose some spring clothes."

"I've never heard of that store."

"That's where I got most of Aliza's clothes and her toys. It's a resale shop. They buy used kids clothes in good condition and you can take the cash or use store credit and buy clothes with it. You get more if you take the store credit. Plus, you get a card stamped for every $10 you spend and when you get to $100, you get a 15% discount on your total purchase."

"You can take me there whenever we go shopping."

Rose began to fuss.

"That's my cue that it's play time with me and not her toys."

Kurt followed him back to the dining room. He put Aliza in her carrier and pulled his phone out to check the time. "I need to get going. I didn't bring all of my textbooks with me and I have more reading to do before tomorrow. Thanks for dinner."

"Thanks for making dinner. And breakfast."

"You're welcome." He fastened Aliza in her car seat. He put the bag of clothes and the diaper bag up on his shoulder and grabbed Aliza in her carrier.

Sebastian turned the garage lights on and followed him out onto the porch. He had Rose wave as they drove past the porch. He went back inside, locked the door, and set the alarm for the night.

"What did you think of that, Rose? Papa had a busy day. We got a new car and we had company over for the first time. And Kurt made Papa a nice dinner." He continued to talk to her in English for a while and then switched and told her the same things in French. He played a CD with French baby songs on it and sang and danced around the room with her, much to her delight.

Kurt talked to Aliza on the way back to their apartment. Once they were back inside, Kurt changed her and sat down with her read her a book and sang songs with her before it was time for her bedtime feeding. He pulled the fold out bed out before he fed her. Once she was asleep, he got out the reading he still needed to do. He sat in the corner on the floor against the far end of the sofa. He read by the light of a small book light in an attempt to keep the room as dark as possible.

Once he finished, he texted back and forth with Sam for a while. He missed him so much. He kept in contact with him nearly daily, but he hadn't brought himself to tell him about Aliza. He felt bad about it, but he didn't want to put Sam in the position of having to keep a secret. He did tell him about running into Sebastian and how he had actually turned over a new leaf, but he didn't mention Rose either.

* * *

Wednesday morning, Kurt woke up to the sounds of Aliza fussing. He changed her quickly and gave her a bottle. They sat together snuggled up on the fold-out bed. He sang to her and talked to her while she drank her bottle. When she finished, he burped her and pulled his knees up and propped her up leaned back against his legs, facing him. He talked to her sweetly and played a game he had made up that included saying all of her body parts interspersed with light massage and a bit of tickling that she enjoyed. Afterwards, he told her stories, doing voices for each of the characters.

Once their little routine was finished he put her in her crib with the mobile on and ate breakfast and got ready for the day. He checked the time and noted that Carole would be there in about 20 minutes. Aliza was happy and kicking in her crib, so he restarted the mobile again and went through his backpack once more rechecking that he had everything he needed. He didn't have time in his schedule to make a 40-minute drive to apartment and back to campus.

He started some coffee and heated his lunch up while he ate his breakfast. He put it in the large Thermos he had invested in when he had gotten sick of eating cold leftovers and sandwiches over the summer. He filled his water bottle with cold water from the refrigerator and refilled the Brita pitcher and put it back. He grabbed a ziptop bag of raw vegetables and put everything in the front section of his backpack.

He restarted the mobile once more and got dressed, brushed his teeth and fixed his hair quickly. He used the remaining few minutes to do a much-abbreviated version of his morning skin-care ritual. Most of his skin-care had been relegated to the afternoons when Aliza was asleep. He put his bag by the door and poured his coffee into his insulated stainless travel mug. When Carole knocked lightly on the door, he gave her a quick hug, grabbed his backpack, and left, drinking his coffee once he got to campus.

* * *

Sebastian's alarm went off before Rose had woken up, which was unusual. He got dressed quickly and ate a piece of the quiche that Kurt had made for him the night before. He enjoyed it and decided that he should learn to make them himself because Kurt was right that it was a lot faster to eat than a bowl of cereal.

He heard Rose begin to stir and warmed her bottle up and took it with him to her room. He changed her and sat down in the rocker and fed her. He talked to her while she drank her bottle. Once she was done, he burped her and picked up a cloth book from the basket and read it to her. Each page had something she could touch on it and he helped her rub her hand across each texture.

Amaline arrived promptly and he handed Rose to her. He went back to his own room and grabbed his bag and headed to campus. He wasn't thrilled with having to take a class at 8:00, but he had no choice in order to be home by 2:00 when Amaline left. Once he got to campus, he stopped and picked up a coffee and headed to class.

On his walk, he thought about how Kurt had suggested that he make enough for dinner to pack for his lunch the next day. He knew it would be more economical, but he didn't know enough yet about meal preparation to give it any real consideration. He wanted Kurt to come back over and teach him to cook, but he knew that his motivation wasn't purely cooking lessons. He could watch YouTube videos for that. He had enjoyed Kurt's company. Just one evening with someone to talk to made how alone he had been so very poignant. Kurt understood his life in a way that didn't require him to share too much, but didn't make him pity him either.

He did his best to push thoughts of the previous day out of his mind so he could focus in class.

* * *

Kurt got to campus and wondered where Sebastian was and what class he was in. The feeling of not being alone was new and it was unexpected and it made him long for something he had given up on – meeting someone who wouldn't judge him for being a single parent, someone who knew the difficulties in doing something you chose to do, but that you would not have chosen for yourself.

In a building on the other side of campus, Sebastian was losing the battle of pushing Kurt out of his mind. He knew that Kurt had class all day and that his stepmom was at his place watching Aliza. He decided that he would text Kurt after his next class and invite him over for dinner again, at his convenience of course.

* * *

-Hey. I was wondering if you were serious about the cooking lessons? Dinner was really good and the quiche was tasty and quick, like you said.

He didn't get a response until an hour later.

-Yeah. I was serious. You need to be able to feed yourself something besides take-out and Rose will need to eat too at some point. I don't know how much she'll appreciate spicy Indian food and you'll spend a lot of time cutting pizza into bites small enough that she can eat.

-Very funny. But I'm sure you're right. I really do want to learn to feed both of us. How about I'll provide the food and you provide the cooking lesson and we'll eat it together?

-That would work. Did you have a day in mind?

-You said you don't have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Maybe you could come over after I get back and we can cook and study.

-So, tomorrow, then?

-If that works for you.

-Sure. I'll be there at 1:00. We can discuss a menu and go shopping. We can cook when we come back. I can show you the store I was talking about if you want.

-Works for me. I'll see you at 1 tomorrow.

* * *

Kurt looked through his clothes, trying to find something casual, but more like he used to dress until he remembered that Sebastian hated the way he used to dress. He had given up wearing his dry clean only clothes once Aliza had come along. What he had left of those clothes were back in his closet in Huntsville. All he had in his apartment were mostly shorts, t-shirts, some button downs and some of his softer, broken in jeans – all folded in the dresser. There was only one tiny closet and he had one dress outfit hanging in there with a couple of jackets and hoodies. He had put some stackable plastic shelves in the bottom to hold the selection of shoes he had brought with him.

He looked in the mirror. He gave himself a 5/10 compared to how he liked to look, but a 9/10 on looking like an average college student. He had given up using his foundation and concealer, switching to just using a good moisturizer with a decent SPF, which meant that his freckles could be seen. He debated whether to cover them, but in the end, he figured it wasn't worth the hassle.

Aliza woke up. He changed her, fed her, and put her in one of the cute outfits that Sebastian had given him. He wasn't used to seeing her so dressed up, but she looked adorable in the pink frilly dress. He pulled his phone out and took photos of the other dresses that Sebastian have given him so that when they went to the store, he would be able to get some coordinating leggings and a jacket or sweater since there had only been one pink sweater in the bag of clothes.

He double-checked her diaper bag and packed enough formula for the whole evening, plus one extra serving in case of an accidental spill. He packed two sleepers and few extra diapers as well. He got her comfortable in her car seat and left her right inside the door. He grabbed his backpack and the diaper bag and locked the door before putting them in the backseat and going back for Aliza, relocking the door, loading her in the back, and taking off.

* * *

Sebastian did a quick inventory when he got back from class while Rose was still asleep. He had the list done when Kurt pulled up. He opened the door and went out to help Kurt carry his stuff in so he only had to make one trip. Kurt left Aliza in her carrier and changed the toy that hung from the handle to give her something new to look at and bat around.

"So, I went through everything and I made a list of all of the food I have in the house right now. It's on the island in that spiral notebook. Rose isn't awake yet. I let Amaline leave early." He moved into the kitchen behind Kurt and made Rose's bottle while Kurt looked through the list. He made himself half a peanut butter sandwich and drank a glass of milk to knock back the hunger for a while.

Kurt picked the notebook up and moved to the table. "I need ideas of what you want to eat."

They sat and talked while Sebastian ate. He ended up getting Rose changed and ready to go and feeding her while they finalized the menu.

* * *

"I can see the appeal of shopping at a place like this," Sebastian said. "There's actually a lot wider variety if you're just looking for something new, but Kohl's would definitely have a pair of blue and pink leggings in the right size."

"You're right. I'll have to go to Kohl's or Target for the blue and pink leggings. Maybe I can swing in there before we stop at the grocery."

"That's fine. I can just sit in the car with the two of them and you can run in and right back out."

"That would save a ton of time. Thanks."

They took the items they had each chosen to the counter.

"That's the one thing that was so hard to adjust to – that I couldn't just do something. I couldn't just run in and grab a loaf of bread. I couldn't just go in and pay for my gas inside the gas station and grab a snack," Sebastian said. "I had to rethink everything. I ended up just moving all of that type of stuff to the mornings when Amaline is there, but you had to be even more organized."

"I've always been a very organized person, so I think it was probably less difficult for me than you because I know how things are at Dalton. Everything is very planned. You get a syllabus and a schedule for the semester at the beginning of the year. You can plan and not have surprise assignments given at the last minute."

"That's true."

"I worked and until Dad and Carole got married when I was 17, I made dinner and did the grocery shopping. And at Dalton every meal was prepared for you and you said your mom cooked when you were home on the weekends. All I had to add in was getting another little person ready to go out with me. You've had a really steep learning curve. You've managed really well I think. And your last hurdle is the grocery shopping and cooking."

Sebastian's face flushed at Kurt's compliment. He looked away, feigning interest in the book section to the right of the register. "I should get her some books here." They were still about three people back in line. "I'm going to go grab a couple. She loves those fabric ones." He left his cart with Rose's car seat in it with Kurt and scurried off and grabbed the first two that he thought were cute and came right back. "These look fun. They squeak and crinkle." He put them in the cart with the cute pink bunny jacket he had picked up. When she saw him, she started babbling and kicking her feet. He undid the straps on her carrier and picked her up. He stood closer to Kurt so Rose could reach out and touch Aliza.

Kurt pulled his phone out and managed to compare prices while they stood in line. "Target. $9.99 for a 3-pack with blue, gray, and pink."

"Target it is," Sebastian said. "I'll give you the money to pick the right Crock-Pot."

"That will work."

* * *

When they got back to the house, Sebastian pulled into the garage. Before they began to haul in the groceries and the other stuff, they took the girls in and fed them and put them down for a nap.

"If you want, you can grab Aliza's stuff and toss it into the washer with the stuff of Rose's I'm getting ready to wash. That will save you some time."

"It will. Thanks. I'll go grab them."

When he came back in, Sebastian had washed and dried the crock and had put it inside the heating unit.

"Alright." Kurt said as he looked through a few drawers until he found a vegetable peeler. "Here. You take this." He handed to Sebastian and continued to look through the drawer and found a vegetables scrubber. "And this."

Sebastian took it as well. "So, I'm the official vegetable washer and peeler it looks like."

"You got it. You do that and I'm going to set this other stuff up to show you how to prep everything."

"Got it. Scrub-a-dub-dub. Five pound of potatoes in a tub," he sang like it was a sea shanty.

Kurt laughed. "That's the spirit. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Alimentum?" he joked. He got out a dish towel and laid it out for the potatoes to go on. "Put the potatoes on here to drip dry. Then, move on to the carrots."

"Aye-aye, Captain."

About ten minutes later, Kurt turned to get something on the other side of the kitchen and Sebastian turned holding all of the peeled carrots he had just rinsed and they knocked into each other. The carrots fell to the floor.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry, Sebastian." Kurt leaned down to help pick them up just as Sebastian looked up and they knocked their foreheads together. Kurt lost his balance and fell back onto his butt and started cackling. "Oh, God. That hurt. Just put them back in the sink and rinse them again." He got up and washed his hands. He grabbed another clean towel and laid it out for the carrots.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah. Maybe an ibuprofen." He reached into the cabinet and grabbed a bottle. "Do you want one?"

"Yeah, I guess. I think I need an ice pack."

Sebastian gave him a gel cap and dumped another one out for himself. He put the bottle back and turned to actually look at Kurt. He grimaced.

Kurt looked worried. "Is it that bad?"

"It's red. I bet it bruises."

"I'll live. I'll put some ice on it though." He sat at the table with the ice for a few minutes. "I have plenty of concealer. No one will even know."

Sebastian wondered why he had concealer, but let it drop. "Mom always said I was hard-headed."

Kurt laughed. "My dad says the same. It's just that I bumped your skull in a place that won't show. I'll be fine. I've had much, much worse and lived. The celery and cauliflower are over there. Do you know how to de-string the celery?"

"Not effectively, if there is an effective way."

"Then, start with the cauliflower next while I sit here for a couple of minutes."

When he finished with the cauliflower, he walked over to where Kurt was sitting and pulled his hand back to look at his forehead. He ran his thumb along the spot. "You have a small knot, but I bet it goes down by the morning, but you're going to have a bruise."

Kurt blushed a little under Sebastian gentle touch. He knew it meant nothing, but his body felt otherwise. It had been a long time since he'd had any physical contact with anyone. Rachel was a occasional surprise hugger, and as much as it annoyed him sometimes, other times it was nice. Adam was an amazing hug giver. He tried to push their goodbye hug four months back out of his mind. "I'll cover it up. I'll be fine. Let's get the celery ready."

They managed to avoid any more collisions.

Kurt showed Sebastian how to thinly slice the different meats they had gotten. He set him to do it while he worked on the peppers, onions, and zucchini. Once everything was ready, Kurt showed him how to sauté everything for the fajitas. They made a large skillet full. They made three each and sat down at the table.

"These are delicious. As good as any I've ever had in a restaurant."

"Thanks. There's enough left over for three more meals for you. You can change it up a bit by adding sour cream or using different cheese or spicing up a bit more with some cayenne pepper before you warm it up." Kurt enjoyed every bite of his. He hadn't had anything so delicious in quite a while. His place was so small that he ate much simpler dishes since he just didn't have the room to do the prep needed.

They were both really hungry and ate mostly in silence.

When they finished, Sebastian said, "It seems that I need to set aside a couple of hours after I do the shopping to get everything ready for the week and then it will go quickly each day."

"That's the general idea. I know a lot of people still like to stop by the store every afternoon on their way home from work, but that really encourages a lot of impulse purchases because they're shopping while they're hungry. And they end up picking up things that are quick, which are usually more pricey than things that need a little more prep time."

"Or they're like me and they just buy stuff for sandwiches, cans of soup, boxes of mac and cheese, and rely on take-out for the rest of their dietary requirements."

"Probably true, but that's a thing of the past." Kurt said confidently.

"Yes." Sebastian got up and took Kurt's plate and stacked it on top of his. He started humming and it only took Kurt a second to realize what he was humming. And the moonwalk Sebastian did said he was right. Kurt added the harmony for "Man in the Mirror" as Sebastian continued to hum as he loaded the dishwasher.

Babbling came through the baby monitor receiver.

"We're being paged. How about I'll change both of them and you can get their bottles ready?" Kurt asked.

"Sure."

Kurt came back a few minutes later with Rose and went right back for Aliza. He followed Sebastian into the living room and sat down on the sofa. He noticed the music and began to listen carefully. It was a French children's song. "I need to get some CDs like this for Aliza."

"Why don't you just borrow one of mine and when you get sick of it, leave it and take a different one? Mamie sent them over from France for her. You might be able to order them on Amazon. But you're welcome to borrow ours."

"Thanks. I sing the ones I know to her, but I don't really remember very many. It was such a long time ago. I researched and found the actual lyrics to the ones I could remember back in junior high. I've been busy and hadn't really thought about being able to get CDs."

When the girls finished, Sebastian put Rose in her reclining bouncy seat. Kurt put Aliza in her carrier.

"The next time we come over, I'll bring Aliza's seat like that so she can be more comfortable."

They worked together quickly to get the meals put together and stored away for Sebastian to make the rest of the week. They dealt with the laundry before they grabbed their school bags and moved back to the living room. Kurt held Aliza on his lap and read one of his textbooks. With the way he was holding her, she wasn't mobile enough yet to grab for the pages.

About an hour later, Kurt said, "I better get going. If I wait much longer, she'll fall asleep in the car and I'll have to study in the car until she wakes up."

"Something that has obviously happened before."

Kurt nodded.

"To me too, but at least I could leave Rose asleep in the car in the garage and come inside. I'll help you get your stuff."

A few minutes later, Sebastian waved from the small porch as Kurt drove past.


	5. Chapter 5

Four days later, on Monday, he found himself at Sebastian's for dinner again. Sebastian had bought steaks and wanted Kurt to teach him how to use the grill. He stopped on the way and bought some fresh apple cider and two caramel apples for dessert – one with nuts and one without, in case Sebastian didn't like them.

When pulled down the driveway, Sebastian opened the garage for him to pull in. He came out and helped by carrying Aliza and her diaper bag inside. Kurt grabbed her little reclining bouncy seat and the treats and followed him inside.

Kurt sat the bag up on the counter. "I stopped and got–"

"Caramel apples. I love these. Thanks." He saw Kurt pull out the jug. "Ooh, and cider too," he said enthusiastically. "It's definitely fall if you have cider and caramel apples." He grabbed two juice glasses out of the cabinet and poured cider into them. He handed one to Kurt.

He took a sip. "It's so good. We could warm some up later and add cinnamon if you like it that way."

"I do actually. I seasoned the steaks according to a recipe I found online." He pulled a ziptop bag out of the fridge and put it on the counter.

"Okay. Let me get Aliza situated and comfortable and we'll get the steaks started."

Once he had her happily batting at the toys hanging from the toy bar, he washed his hands and started looking through the drawers for a meat thermometer. He pulled it out and put it on the counter. "Let's go turn the grill on."

Kurt showed him how to get everything set up. He grabbed the grill rack and took it inside to wash it. He found the grilling tongs and they went back outside. Kurt guided him through the whole process and left him out on the porch to keep an eye on the steaks while he went in and quickly made them some asparagus.

Rose began to fuss a bit and Kurt went over and picked her up and carried her around while he got out some plates and silverware. He sang the song that Sebastian had told him that he sang as well while he danced around with her. Sebastian smiled when he saw the two of them through the window.

Kurt put Rose in her back in her new high chair and took the plates out to Sebastian. He showed Sebastian how to check the temperature on the steaks. Sebastian pulled them off the grill, turned it off, and followed Kurt back inside. They both added asparagus to their plates, grabbed their drinks, and sat down. Rose began to fuss again. Sebastian reached into a basket on the table and picked up a toy that had a suction cup on the bottom and stuck it to the high chair tray. She began to play with it.

"I'll have to look for some toys that that," Kurt said. "Those look very entertaining."

"It was expensive, but completely worth it. If you get one, maybe you can find one that's different and we can trade every few days and keep them from getting bored with having the same one all the time."

"Good idea." Kurt cut into his steak and took a bite. "This is really good. I'll have to copy down whatever you marinated it in. I don't have a grill right now, but once I move, I could get one of those indoor grills."

"Thanks for showing me how to use that one. I was just too afraid to try to do it when I was here alone in case I did something completely stupid and burned myself. I didn't want Rose–"

"I get it. I probably wouldn't want to do it by myself either – for the same reason. You can do everything right and if you get a cut of meat that has a lot of fat, sometimes it just catches on fire and you have to put it out. And since you'd never done it, I can see why you'd want someone around."

"I really do need your secret on how to get the vegetables to come out like this."

"I'll show you sometime soon."

Once they finished eating, they cleaned up.

"Sit back down for a minute, okay?"

"Sure." He sat down, his back to the kitchen. He heard Sebastian open the freezer, but he didn't turn around. He batted at some of the toys and entertained Aliza.

Sebastian came around from behind and put a small cake on the table and sang Happy Birthday to him.

"Thank you. I don't even remember telling you that it was today."

"Well, you didn't tell me the specific day, but I mayhavepeekedatyourdriverslicense."

"You what?"

"When we were at the resale shop, you had to show your driver's license for the things you sold. When we were talking the day we met, you said that your birthday was this week. When we were standing there, I took a peek to see your birth date."

"You're sneaky. And sweet."

"I wasn't sure of your favorite flavor, so I went with a traditional chocolate cake with chocolate chip ice cream."

"It's an ice cream cake?"

"It is." He hopped up and brought a long, thin knife and two plates and forks back with him. He sliced the small cake in half and put the pieces on the plates and sat down.

Kurt took a bite. "This is really good. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He looked at Kurt carefully.

"What?"

"Oh, I was just looking at your forehead. I don't see a knot anymore. Did it bruise badly?"

"I've been using concealer on it. I'm fine." Kurt had never had someone ask about a previous injury. It made him feel warm inside. "But thanks for asking."

"I rented _Now You See Me_ , if you have time to watch it. I didn't want to spoil the surprise and ask ahead of time."

"Definitely. I wanted to see it when it came out, but I never did go see it. Did you?"

He shook his head no. "But it looks really good. I'm excited to watch it."

* * *

Second Week of September

Thursday evening, Kurt and Aliza found themselves at Sebastian's house for dinner again. Kurt cooked while Sebastian fired up the grill and made them turkey burgers, making extras to freeze and eat later. He also grilled chicken to use later.

Kurt made mashed potatoes and garlic green beans similar to the type served in Chinese restaurants. They sat down to eat together, entertaining the girls while they ate.

Sebastian willed himself to ask Kurt to do something besides grocery shop or cook. "Would you like to go with us to the Columbus Zoo Saturday? It's actually just about four miles north of here."

"I've never actually been, but I've seen the signs."

"It won't cost anything. My parents had a membership and I worked it out back in July to get it in my name. We went about every other week over the summer, but I haven't taken her since school started. I know she doesn't really get much out of it yet, but it gave me a place to walk and relax that wasn't a mall."

"You don't have to try so hard to convince me. It sounds like fun."

"I like the green beans like this. Next time, I need to not grill so I can actually watch what you're doing," he shook his head. "I should have thought of that, but grilled burgers just sounded really good."

"It's fine. It's actually really simple." He explained the process while they continued to eat.

"Did you bring homework to do or do you need to leave after dinner?"

"I brought homework. I always have homework. Lots and lots of homework. Fortunately, most of it is reading. It's actually really nice out though. I thought maybe we could take them for a walk. I know you usually have song time after dinner though."

"I do. We could cut the song time a little short and go for a walk first."

* * *

Columbus Zoo

Kurt drove to Sebastian's house and got in his SUV to ride to the zoo together. When they got there, Kurt pulled out a smaller messenger bag he had carried in high school from inside her diaper bag and put it on cross-body style, and then put Aliza in her front carrier. He pulled her sunbonnet out last and put it on her.

Sebastian got Rose and her stuff situated in her stroller. "Ready?"

"I think so. Not that I want to, but I could come back out here if I really need to."

They headed into the zoo for the morning. When the girls got fussy, they stopped and fed them. Kurt left Aliza in the carrier, but laid her next to Rose in the stroller and let them sleep.

"I can go get us something to eat," Kurt offered.

"No need. I brought us lunch." He leaned over and pulled a small soft-sided cooler out from under the stroller. He opened it and pulled out two bowls. He grabbed the forks and handed one to Kurt.

Kurt took the lid off the bowl. Inside the bowl was a perfect Southwest salad. "Oh, wow. This looks great. I see where the grilled chicken went."

"I saw the recipe and I thought it looked easy enough to do. I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will. I'm beginning to wonder about whether you need cooking lessons though," he teased.

"I do. This didn't involve any cooking except grilling the chicken. And while I like salad, you pointed out that Rose will not have my taste in food for quite a while."

Kurt chuckled. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure salad isn't on the list until they have at least a couple of molars to chew with. I like the dressing. I'd like the recipe you found for it."

"Sure."

"This is a really nice place. I've never been to a zoo, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it seems like a really nice one."

"It is. And there's still more to see. If you look that way, you can see an underpass. On the other side, there are a lot more exhibits."

* * *

Third week of September

Sebastian managed to get Kurt to come over Tuesday and Thursday for more cooking lessons and dinner. Thursday evening, after they ate, they worked to clean up quickly and move on to the singing and dancing portion of the evening.

Kurt said, "After we went to the zoo, I looked up places to see in this area, and I found Glick Park. The trees are starting to change. I thought maybe you'd like to go Sunday and go for a hike. Do you have a front carrier for Rose?"

"I do."

"I don't think most of it would be suitable for a stroller. That's why I asked."

"Sure. I've been there lots of times. It's really nice."

"How about a pitch-in picnic? We can bring our own meal, and then split it in half and share? Cold pizza is fine if that's what you have. Or a peanut butter sandwich and milk. It's just to have fun, not be stressful."

"I can handle that. There are places we can use the strollers, so go ahead and bring yours."

Kurt nodded. He looked around and didn't see anything out of place. "Ready?"

Sebastian dried his hands. "Yeah. Let's walk around the block and come back."

* * *

They met up at Sebastian's on Sunday to go to the park and to the dam overlook. They spent the morning hiking around. Kurt took his camera and took quite a few pictures of Sebastian and Rose and let Sebastian take pictures of him with Aliza. He set the camera's timer and managed to get it steady on a fallen tree trunk and took a few pictures of all four of them together.

For lunch, they shared what they brought. Kurt was surprised to find that he got a half of a lovely turkey sandwich on pretzel bread with lettuce and tomato. Kurt brought tuna salad, cut up vegetables and ranch dip. Sebastian brought a fruit salad.

They took the girls back to Sebastian's for their afternoon nap and skipped doing homework they could have done to watch a movie and drink hot spiced cider instead.

* * *

Fourth week of September

_Whack! Whack! Whack!_

_Zzzz-mrrm. Zzzz-mrrm._

The noise stopped. Kurt waited a couple of minutes to make sure. He laid Aliza down in her crib and headed into the bathroom. He'd been waiting to go for nearly a half-hour, unable to lay Aliza down due to all of the racket coming from the next unit. He had just finished washing his hands when the noise returned, louder than before.

_Whack! WHACK!_

Kurt rushed to the crib because the last loud _whack_ made Aliza scream. Kurt picked her up and walked around the room, attempting to comfort her by singing and bouncing her. Nothing was working. He laid her down just long enough to pack some formula in her bag and put her jacket on. He put her in her carrier, grabbed her diaper bag and his backpack, and took her out to the car.

He drove to the local library, found the least populated area, and sat down. She had calmed down on the drive, but she wasn't asleep. He put his foot against the edge of her stroller and moved it back and forth as he used his laptop to answer the questions on his assignment as quickly as possible.

When she had finally had it, he took her out and held her and did more of his reading while rocking her to keep her content. Eventually he got too hungry to concentrate. He had skipped lunch since he had no electricity at the apartment because of the work going on in the unit next to his. At least he had the forewarning of it being off that day and had eaten the food that would spoil over the previous few days, which coincided with the crew loudly demolishing the interior of the unit next to his.

He packed her back up and went to the least expensive place he could think of, which was a nearby carry-out Chinese place, which conveniently had a drive-thru pick-up window because it was in an old building that had previously been a video rental store. He called in his order and drove straight there. He ate in the car and then went to the mall to push Aliza around in her stroller until 7, which was when the noise stopped each of the previous two evenings. He was looking forward to spending the afternoon and evening at Sebastian's the next day.

* * *

Thursday afternoon, Kurt headed to Sebastian's and arrived just as Amaline was leaving. He pulled into the garage and Sebastian pressed the button to put the door back down. He came out and carried Aliza inside. He left her sleeping in her carrier and put it in Rose's room and closed the door quietly.

"Peace and quiet," Kurt said as he met Sebastian at the door after gathering up everything else from his SUV that he needed. "At least my power is back on."

"It was off?"

"Yesterday. They turned it off for about six hours."

"What a pain."

"In my ears."

Sebastian chuckled. "Well, you're welcome to sit out on the back porch and read. It will be really quiet out there."

"That's actually a good idea. Care to join me? We can take the baby monitor with us."

"Let me grab a jacket and my textbook."

* * *

Last Friday of September

"I can't thank you enough for letting us stay," Kurt said, as they hauled Aliza's crib mattress into the house from the back of Kurt's SUV.

"It's no problem really. Let's get the rest of the stuff inside before Amaline has to go."

They moved as quickly as they could and got the rest of Kurt and Aliza's stuff out of the back of Sebastian's truck and into the house. Once it was all inside, Amaline left for the day.

"I would go nuts a lot faster than you did with all that banging and having to spend so much time away from the apartment. At least they gave your deposit back and pro-rated your rent for this month." He took out two glasses and filled them with water. He handed one to Kurt.

"I never gave one thought to what would happen if my neighbor caught the kitchenette on fire," Kurt said sarcastically. "Ripping out cabinets makes a lot of noise. I've already started looking for another place. I just haven't found anything in my price range yet. At least I'll be able to study for finals without trying to keep Aliza silent in the library this week."

"Let's go sit down in the living room for a few minutes. We can't really do anything with your stuff until the girls wake up anyway."

Kurt followed Sebastian into the living room and sat down on the sectional. "So far, I haven't found a place that will rent a me a 1-bedroom place willingly. I know by law they can't make me rent a 2-bedroom place, but that doesn't prevent them from giving me the most unwelcoming tour of their apartments. Frozone has nothing on these landlords and their leasing agents. I just want to live in peace, not have the front office staff giving me the side-eye at every opportunity. And that doesn't count the two who were obviously homophobic and told me that they no longer had any vacancies when I showed up for the apartment tour."

"I've been thinking about this for a while anyway, but you and Aliza could live here with me and Rose. You've been coming over several times a week this past month. We get along. The girls like being together."

"I couldn't impose like that."

"It wouldn't be an imposition. You said you were going to have to figure out something else to do for Aliza anyway next semester. I know you skipped class this morning because Carole went to DC to spend a 3-day weekend with your dad because she missed him since he hasn't been home in three weeks. I already talked to Amaline about it. She'd be willing to watch both girls during her regular hours for an additional $150 a week."

"That's about what I've found pricewise for putting her in a daycare. But here it would just be the two of them and she'd get to learn French too. Are you sure?"

"How about this? You can keep looking. You can stay until you find what you need."

"I can pay you. I can't just mooch."

"The house is paid off. My parents left money in investments that are paying the property taxes and utilities. That's why I don't have to work. You'd just need to buy your own food. We can split the cost on stuff like laundry detergent, dish soap, and household products if you want. And Carole could stay in DC like you said she has mentioned that she wants to do since your dad's been staying there for weeks at a time now."

"That's true. Her coming three days a week has prevented her from going to stay with my dad." Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't want to do this if you're not 100% sure. Having us here all the time will completely change your life. More noise, twice the crying, and you'll lose the privacy you're used to."

"Privacy feels more like isolation than I ever thought it would. I like it when you're here. I'm 100% sure. But you can think about it if you want. You can keep looking for another place if you want. You have to figure out what you want too. You have to face the same things – more noise, twice the crying, and losing your privacy."

Kurt nodded. "I'll think about it while I go put my stuff away. I still have schoolwork left to do unfortunately. I should be getting emails with the notes from my classes this morning soon, if I haven't already gotten them. It wasn't a good day to miss with next week being midterms."

"As soon as they wake up, we'll get Aliza's crib set up."

"Sounds good. I'll get to my schoolwork after that."

An hour later, Kurt had managed to get all of his clothes put away and about half of the reading he needed to do completed. The room didn't have a dresser, but there were hanging baskets in the walk-in closet, which worked just as well. The closet was three-quarters empty because Kurt had brought a limited selection of his clothing with him since the efficiency had just one small closet and the low, wide dresser that doubled as a TV console.

Sebastian lightly knocked on the partially open bedroom door. He had Rose in his arms. "Aliza's awake too. I put those rattle socks with the puppy faces on her and she's entertaining herself by trying to catch them."

"She loves those things. Ready to put Aliza's crib back together?"

Sebastian nodded. "Watch." He pulled Rose's pacifier out. "Rose, say 'Papa.'"

"BA!"

"Good job!" Sebastian kissed her all over and made her laugh.

"BA!"

Kurt smiled. "What a big girl!" He got up from the desk and tickled her just a little and kissed her on the forehead.

Sebastian said, "Let's go put you in the spinny seat. Papa's got some work to do."

It didn't take them long to get the crib back together.

Kurt looked around the room. "Aliza's bright colorful bedding detracts from the princess theme in here."

"It's fine. They're babies. They don't care. It doesn't bother me at all. For all I know, Rose will turn four and decide that black is her favorite color. I won't paint the walls black, but I would paint them light to medium gray and let her have whatever she wants when she's old enough to care and make requests. My parents never insisted that I be anyone but who I was. I will let Rose be who she is, even if she wants to be called Alex or Alexa or any derivation of her name that sounds less frilly, if she's a tomboy."

Kurt smiled. "You're a good dad, Sebastian." He had the small tote with Aliza's clothes in his hands. "Where should I put Aliza's stuff?"

"The bottom drawer in the dresser is empty. There's also the hanging baskets in the closet. We can put some more of those in if we need them. They came from Ikea. That reminds me. I'm planning on taking Rose to see my grandparents next Saturday like usual, and we'll be going to check out Costco like you and I had talked about looking into, but never got around to doing. Do you want to come?"

"Sure. I'll find something that Aliza and I can do while you visit and we'll go with you to Costco."

Sebastian counted it a win and let it drop. He'd have to work up to introducing Kurt to his grandparents. He wondered if Kurt thought they wouldn't like him since he had no contact with any of his grandparents. "So, dinner?"

"Definitely dinner. I'll go get it started and you can entertain our princesses for a while."

About ten minutes later, Sebastian brought Rose in and put her in her high chair. He went back for Aliza. "Do you want to let her try the spinny seat? It said ages four months and up. I know she's not four months old yet, but I can lock it in place so it won't spin for right now."

"Sure, but let me get my camera. I want to get a picture of her in it to send to my parents, if she likes it."

When he came back, Sebastian had brought it into the dining room. He latched the seat and put Aliza in. At first, she wasn't sure because she kicked her feet and startled herself, but Sebastian distracted her with one of the toys on the tray and she grabbed for it and didn't startle herself again. Kurt took a couple of shots with his camera, and then a couple more with his phone.

"I don't think she's ready to be in there without someone right with her. Let's go ahead and move her to the reclining bouncer and sit her up on the table where you're going to sit."

He went back to making their dinner while Sebastian moved Aliza to the reclining bouncer with the toy bar and fed Rose a jar of baby food. When she finished, he put her suction cup toys on the high chair tray to entertain her while he and Kurt ate dinner.

"I can't get her to eat any of the vegetables that I've tried. She only likes the fruits."

Kurt laughed. "I'm not surprised. I bet baby food vegetables taste pretty terrible. They're completely puréed with no salt or butter." He made a revolted face and shook his head. "I bet you'll have to distract her to get her to eat them."

Once they finished eating, they switched places and Kurt entertained both of them. He got out a container of peas and took a shot at getting Rose to eat them. He began to sing and make silly faces and zoomed the spoon around like it was an airplane and got her to eat half the jar.

"Well, make me out to be a liar, why don't you, little missy?" Sebastian teased as he wiped her face with a wipe. "Papa will have to try making your spoon an airplane too."

Kurt stood up and kissed her on top of the head. "You did a good job, Rose. Peas are good for you." He put the spoon in the dishwasher and the lid on the container and put it in the fridge.

After Sebastian finished cleaning up, they sat in the living room on the sofa with books they needed to read for school and gave both girls their bottles.

Once the girls fell asleep, they carefully put them in their cribs and went their separate ways to continue working on their homework. Kurt finished first and quietly tapped on Sebastian's partially open door.

He spoke barely above a whisper. "Is it okay if I go ahead and shower?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure. If they wake up before you come out, I'll entertain them."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Kurt grabbed one of his towels and washcloths and took his box of toiletries that he hadn't put in the bathroom yet with him. He took out as few things as possible to leave in the room and left the rest in the box to take back to his room and use there. He showered quickly and put his robe on and took the box and his clothes back to his room. He managed to get his pajamas on and his nighttime skin ritual done quickly. He missed the days when it had been his time for self-reflection, and not just from staring at himself in the mirror. He didn't have time for that except when he was on campus and occasionally when Aliza was asleep and he didn't have an assignment to do, which meant very rarely. It all ended up coming to him when he lay in bed trying to fall asleep quite frequently.

He heard Rose start to cry out and Aliza followed along within a few seconds. He and Sebastian nearly collided in the hallway between the three rooms. Kurt stopped short and let Sebastian walk in first. He picked Rose up, changed her, and took her into the kitchen. Kurt was one step behind, but made it just in time for the singing and dancing.

"I know we usually do this at dinner, but I didn't want her to miss out on getting to have some fun."

"We're all for fun, aren't we Aliza?" He ran his finger down her cheek and neck, causing her to smile. "I even know the words to the songs on this CD." He began to sing along and dance around the dining room, making faces and bouncing Aliza.

Sebastian was doing the same thing, all white smiling and making Rose laugh.

The 3-month difference in their age was so obvious still. Kurt saw how interactive Rose was and was looking forward to Aliza being so much more responsive. He reclined her in his arms and cradled her as they continued to dance around.

After a few songs, Sebastian changed the song to an English CD for babies for a few more songs. After that, they sat down on the sofa to read books. Kurt hadn't stayed late enough to see their evening rituals before.

"Scoot closer," Sebastian said. "That way Aliza can see the books too."

"I don't think she's really old enough to see the book anyway."

"That doesn't matter. Scoot closer anyway. Who knows for sure what she can and can't see?"

Kurt scooted closer so that Aliza and Rose were side by side. Kurt tried to maintain some space between himself and Sebastian, but didn't quite succeed because Rose kept squirming around and causing Sebastian's arm to bump into Kurt's.

"We can switch off. They're pretty short." He handed two books written in English. He kept the French books to read himself.

Ten minutes later, they had finished all four books. Sebastian got up and put a playmat down and put Rose on her stomach. "Put Rose down too. It's big enough for both of them. Or you can go get Aliza's from wherever you put it.

"We can try it. If they end up kicking each other or something, I'll go get it. It's in the closet in their room. I put all of Aliza's toys in there so that Amaline could get to them without needing to go in my room for anything."

"Makes sense."

They both lay down on the floor on opposite sides of the mat and entertained the girls for a while. Eventually they got fussy and Kurt got up.

"I'll go make their bottles."

* * *

First Week of October

The first few nights were a challenge because the girls were used to waking up at different times for their middle-of-the-night feedings. Aliza reluctantly adjusted to having a bottle at midnight and then waking up earlier than she had been. Amaline worked to get them to take their daytime naps at the same time as well. Within a week, the three of them managed to get both girls on the same sleeping schedule.

Kurt and Sebastian made it through their first midterm week at OSU. They ended up ordering in Indian food Friday night as a treat. They put the girls down for their third nap and Sebastian got Kurt to go back into the living room with him.

"Okay, so, I know this isn't really your thing, but I thought maybe you'd watch it with me anyway."

"What is it? I'm pretty open-minded about movies."

"It's not exactly a movie. It's a TV show. I bought the first season of _Arrow_ today. I know it's not the same, but my mom would have done something nice for me for doing well on my midterms. And I'm trying to remember to be kind to myself like the therapist says to do – to not be so hard on myself and take time to do enjoyable things too."

Kurt nodded. "Sure. I've never watched it before, but I heard Sam talk about it."

Sebastian put the first disc in, turned the lamp off, and sat down. "Before I start it do you want to get a drink or anything?"

"I'm fine, but thanks for asking."

Sebastian hit play.

When it finished, Kurt said, "Play the next one."

Sebastian smiled and started the next episode. They managed to watch it before the girls woke up.

* * *

The next morning, they got up and got the girls ready to go. Kurt drove to Westerville and dropped Sebastian and Rose off at their grandparents' place before heading to a nearby park. He put Aliza in her front carrier and took a walk around the outer loop of the park before heading into the playground area. He sat in one of the swings and sang softly while he pushed himself on the swing just enough to stay in motion.

When the sun slipped behind some clouds and the wind picked up, Kurt moved them back to the SUV. He left Aliza in the carrier and grabbed a book and sat in the passenger seat with it pushed all the way back. She fell asleep on his chest and he set his phone alarm and slowly reclined the seat so she could nap more comfortably.

He was tired, but not sleepy enough to fall sound asleep. He lay there in a place between being asleep and being fully awake. His thoughts bounced around in his head.

_A year…_

It had been a year since he told Finn that he felt like he was going to die.

_Seven months…_

And seven months since he'd last seen Finn alive.

_Nine months…_

Nine months and a half months since his dad had told him about the cancer over a cup of hot chocolate. And the same length of time since he received an unwelcomed holiday visitor, who was now living out Kurt's dream in New York City.

_Four months…_

Since his life had been changed forever by the beautiful amazing daughter sleeping on his chest. The child he had never imagined having, only maybe in a distant "someday", now was the most important person in his life and he wouldn't make a different decision if he could go back in time.

_Over a year…_

The last time he was together with everyone from the Glee Club had been at Graduation. They'd never all be together again.

The last time he saw Sam.

The last time he saw Adam.

The last time he saw his mom.

The friendships he thought he had made, but had lost, or maybe never had in the first place.

The weight of everything brought tears that streamed freely down his cheeks since he didn't want to risk waking Aliza up to wipe them.

He remembered going to the Winter Showcase and being put on the spot to sing. Rachel won, but then he bested her at Midnight Madness a month later. He smiled. Just once, he had come out on top. It had been nice, vindicating. His life had moved on from petty competitions in darkened classrooms, but it had been fun to be at the top even for that brief moment.

_Sebastian…_

Sebastian, who had become his friend and confident in a way unlike anyone else. He was funny and smart, and not an all a jackass, but more of a dork when he wasn't putting on airs of sexual prowess and better-than-thou-ness like he had nearly two years ago.

_Two years…_

Had it really had been that long?

He wasn't what he had appeared to be. He was a sweet, kind, and loving dad. They had fallen into an easy friendship. They talked, but never revealed too much. The both listened, but never pried. He knew the struggle he faced to remain just friends with him. Knowing that Sebastian didn't like him in that way helped to keep his mind from drifting that direction, not completely, but enough. But every time he was adorable with Rose or Aliza, it got harder to keep his mind from wandering away from the platonic and towards more.

He took a deep breath and refocused. What they had was good. It was amazing. He knew he could trust Sebastian and that was something he hadn't felt in a really, really long time. If he were honest with himself, it had probably been since his mom died. He turned inward and became as self-reliant as possible. He hoped this time extending his trust didn't end with his heart broken.

Aliza squirmed a bit, but didn't wake up. He looked down at her face and smiled before pushing all of his jumbled thoughts away by forcing himself to think of songs that started with the letter A until he ran out and moved onto B. He closed his eyes to rest.

"All Out of Love"  
"ABC"  
"Ace in the Hole"  
"Ave Maria"  
"Achy Breaky Heart"  
"Africa"  
...


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt was surprised when the vibrating in his pants pocket woke him up. He hadn't expected to actually fall asleep, but he woke up feeling better than he had when he reclined the seat. He carefully sat up and pulled the lever for the seat to sit back upright. Aliza stirred a bit. He decided to try to put her in her car seat without waking her up. He was surprised at his success. He even managed to get in the front seat and close his door without waking her up by turning some music on and slowly increasing the volume until it was loud enough to block the sound of the door latching.

He made to Sebastian's grandparents house with her still asleep. Sebastian came out when Kurt texted him, but he didn't have Rose with him. Kurt indicated with his index finger to his lips for Sebastian to get in quietly, which he did. Kurt pulled out and drove to Costco. When he pulled up and turned the engine off, he forgot to stop at the point that would keep the music playing. The sudden silence woke Aliza up.

Kurt cooed and talked to her and took her out of the car seat and put her in the back to change her diaper before they went inside. Sebastian poured warm water from the Thermos into her bottle and dumped the powdered formula in and shook it up and had it ready. He picked Aliza up and began to feed her while Kurt cleaned up and grabbed her car seat. He took a cart from a nearby corral and fastened her seat to it and put her diaper bag inside. They headed inside.

Once Aliza had finished her bottle, Sebastian put her in the carrier and fastened her in.

"Despite my best efforts, Rose fell asleep about 15 minutes before you were set to pick us up. Calling wouldn't have changed anything since I knew you were 10 minutes away."

"It's fine. We'll just go back for her when we're done."

Sebastian looked around once they made it to the end of the entry aisle where they could see everything. "I guess I didn't think about them selling anything besides food. It's like a mini mall with a lot of food. Where do you want to start?"

"Well, we need to see if we'll save money by joining. We use a lot of fresh vegetables, and frozen vegetables so let's see how their selection looks and check out the prices. Meat and cheese come in second in our menu. Once we see if we can save at least $5 a month, we can just go get in line and get a membership and then walk through the whole store."

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure that it matters if we can save $5. I just want to see that the quality is good and whether they have what we wan to buy because this would be really convenient to be able to come here every other week after visiting my grandparents and just be able to get everything in one place."

An hour later, they both had Costco membership cards and they were loading all of the food they bought into the back of Kurt's SUV.

* * *

Sebastian stopped by Kurt's room when he came home Thursday afternoon, but didn't find him. He went back the other direction and looked in the living room, but he wasn't there either. He didn't want to call out for him because the girls were asleep. He heard a barely there "Damn!" come from the other end of the house. He went back the other direction and found Kurt in the laundry room lying on top of the washer using a grabber. Sebastian didn't say anything at first, but when Kurt turned to throw what he had collected onto the floor, he saw Sebastian standing in the doorway trying not to laugh at him.

"Damn little tiny baby socks. I always use the little bags when I wash and dry them, but I bumped something on top of the dryer and made the basket I had them in tip over and the socks fell off the back."

"We'll have to figure out a better way. I thought the basket would work."

"It does work until I get clumsy and knock the stack of sleepers over and cause a cascading avalanche of socks off the back."

"I know it's not funny, but you laying on top swearing and tossing dust bunny covered baby socks onto the floor definitely was."

"Oh, I'm sure. I would have laughed at you if I had found you doing the same thing. We need to vacuum back here. Do you have a mini-shop vac?"

"I do. I'll go get it."

"I'll wait right here," Kurt deadpanned.

Sebastian chuckled as he went to the garage to get it. He brought it back and plugged it in and held the unit while Kurt maneuvered the hose down the back to suck up what was left of the dust bunnies. Kurt held the hose back up when he was done. Sebastian grabbed it, turned the vacuum off, and stepped back.

Before he managed to get the words, "Watch your head–" out completely, Kurt had raised up to his knees and hit his head on the shelf mounted to the wall above the washer and dryer.

"Ow, damn!" Kurt said louder than he meant to. "God, that hurts." He huffed.

"I'll get the ice pack." Sebastian scurried off.

When he turned around Kurt was sitting at the table putting his head down on his right forearm. Sebastian walked over and put the ice pack near his free hand. Kurt grabbed it and put it on his head.

"No good deed goes unpunished, right?" Kurt said sardonically. "I rescue the socks from the dust bunnies, and what do I get? A good knock in the noggin from the wood shelf on the wall."

Sebastian chuckled. He grabbed the ibuprofen and took a gel cap out. He put the bottle back and poured Kurt a small glass of tea. "Here. This will help." He put them on the table in front of Kurt.

"Thanks." He picked the pill up and swallowed it before putting his head back down and the ice pack back on the knot on the back of his head. "I'll live. I'm more annoyed than I am seriously injured."

"I'm sure." Sebastian gently picked Kurt's hand and the ice pack up to assess Kurt's injury. He ran his fingers across the area very tenderly. "Well, you've got a robin's egg knot. It's going to hurt to comb your hair for a few days. I can say that with absolute certainty." He removed his fingers from Kurt's hair.

"From when we collided in the kitchen."

"Yep. I should have put ice on mine, but it didn't seem like much at the time. That's why I'm having you ice yours."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. You just sit there while I go put the shop vac away and use the lint roller on the socks."

About ten minutes later, Kurt rejoined him and refolded the stack of sleepers he'd knocked over. "So much for me using the time I had leftover from schoolwork to get the laundry done while you were meeting with your group for your project."

"Meh. It's still done, just not quite when you thought it would be. It's all good. I appreciate you doing it. The girls should be awake any time now. I'll put it all away once they wake up."

"No, I'll still do it. Dinner's nearly prepped too. I'm going to cook even though I know it's technically your turn. I thought maybe you could finish whatever homework you have before dinner and this evening we could watch a movie."

"That sounds nice. The project meeting was hectic. I always manage to get myself put in charge of groups."

"Me too. People can tell that we'll put in extra work to make sure we get a good grade and they ride our coattails. It's annoying." He grabbed the shop vac. "Will you show me where this goes?"

Sebastian went with him to the garage door and pointed.

"Thanks. I'll go back to prepping dinner. I'll do my best to not need any more first aid."

* * *

Early Mid-October 2013

Sunday afternoon, Sebastian came in with the final drawing of the courtyard project his group had been working on. He put it out on the table, along with the other supplies he had gotten when he was out.

"Hey, Kurt?"

Kurt came out carrying Rose, rubbing her back, and swaying just a bit. "Yeah?"

"I picked up the print out. I just need to get it mounted. I have the foam core board you said to get and the spray adhesive. Can you show me how to do it?"

He stepped closer to the table to have a look at the poster board sized courtyard plan. "Sure. That's really nice." He stepped even closer so he could see it better.

Rose turned her head to look at what Kurt was looking at and threw up all over the print.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry." He grabbed the burp cloth off his shoulder and handed Rose to Sebastian. He wiped the drawing off as quickly as he could. None of the writing could be read anymore, but the layout could be seen. "Sebastian, I'm so sorry. She was kind of fussy, but I didn't know she was going to be sick."

He took a deep breath. "Neither one of you did it on purpose. I'll take this in my room and redo it by hand. If I get started right now, hopefully I can get it redone by tomorrow morning. I'd just ask for an extension so I could get it reprinted, but the presentation is tomorrow morning. All of the presentation slots are full and no one is going to agree to switch with us for first thing tomorrow morning."

"I'll watch both girls. I'll take them out for a walk and then a car ride. I know we were going to cook together, but I'll order a pizza. An extra large one to leave some for you to snack on while you stay up all night." A few tears streamed down his cheek. You've been waiting to pick it up since Thursday. I'm so sorry."

"I'm not angry. I just have to get to work." He kissed Rose on top of the head. "Papa loves you. I'm sorry your tummy hurts."

Kurt took her in the bathroom, grabbed a washcloth, and soaked it with warm water. He went in the girls' room, took her clothes off, cleaned her up, and put a new diaper and sleeper on her. He took her back in the dining room and put her in her high chair and moved it to the laundry room. He quietly grabbed all of the girls' dirty clothes and took them back to wash them. He soaked the burp cloth and Rose's outfit in the sink. By the time he got the load started, Aliza had gotten bored in her crib.

He put a towel in Rose's stroller and laid her on it in case she threw up again. He put Aliza in her front carrier and took them out for a walk. When he came back, he tossed their clothes in the dryer, grabbed his school bag and packed them up in his SUV to go for a drive. He pulled through the McDonald's drive-thru and ordered himself a coffee and two large hot waters since he accidentally left without the water he needed to make their bottles. When he noticed that they had both fallen asleep, he pulled over and parked and left the music playing while they both took a nap. He pulled out one of his textbooks from his backpack and read while he had the opportunity.

When they woke up, he made them both bottles and climbed into the middle between them and fed them both in their car seats. He climbed out when they finished, burped each of them, and changed them before he loaded them back up.

Not much was open on Sunday evening, but he remembered that the bookstore was still open, so that's where he headed. He had Aliza's front carrier in the back with her diaper bag, so he put her in it and put Rose in Aliza's stroller and headed inside. He ignored the strange looks he got and went to look through the music section for a while. He eventually made it to the kids' section and bought a 3-pack rattle set that had suction cups on the bottom. He also found another larger one somewhat similar to the one that Rose had with colorful spinning textured parts and picked it up too.

He packed them back into their car seats, ordered a pizza, and headed home, stopping on the way to pick it up. He took them in quietly and put them in the high chair and the reclining bouncer. He washed the new toys and stuck the large one to the high chair tray to entertain Rose while he went back out into the garage to bring in the pizza. He put it on the island and went to get Sebastian.

He knocked on the open door lightly. "I'm back with the pizza if you want to come and eat."

Sebastian got up and followed him into the kitchen. He put a couple of slices on a plate and sat down next to Rose. "Hey, beautiful, are you feeling better?" He ran his index finger down her cheek gently.

She grabbed his finger. "Pa!"

"Yes, Papa was sad that you were feeling sick."

"I think she must have just swallowed a bunch of air somehow? She's not warm to the touch and she hasn't been fussy at all. I don't think she's actually sick."

The look of concern was replaced with a smile. "That's good." He noticed the toy. "Did you spoil her and buy her a new toy?"

"Well, we discussed having more than one so they wouldn't get bored, so technically, I guess it could be Aliza's? I had just looked a few places and only seen the one you had. The bookstore had some different ones in the section with the baby books. I bought some rattles that have suction cups too. Although, those will have to be for when we can tolerate the noise they'll make."

"If they're super annoying, we can leave them out for them to play with while Amaline is here. She's not trying to study or concentrate."

"That's true."

"How's the drawing going?"

"If I keep at it, I should be done by tomorrow morning. Can you help me mount it before you leave for class?"

"Of course. I'm still really sorry."

"I'm not angry. Just frustrated. It was bound to happen sometime."

"I'll watch them the rest of the evening. Maybe you can just help me with their midnight feeding since both of them are pretty cranky then."

"Of course. I'll just drink some coffee around 11, so I won't fall asleep while I'm feeding her in the dark."

Kurt pulled his phone out and set an alarm. "I'll make it for you."

"Thanks. I'll have more of this later." He put his plate in the dishwasher and washed his hands before he headed back to his room.

* * *

Kurt sprayed the adhesive on the foam core board outside and took it right back inside and laid it on the table. He and Sebastian worked together to get the new drawing positioned correctly.

Kurt looked at it once they had it in place. "I really like the hand-drawn one better. It has more character and makes me feel the courtyard's personality. I know that sounds weird, but all of the perfection of digital representation begins to look so uniform that nothing has any feeling when you look at it."

"I get what you mean, but using the CAD tools makes it go so much faster. And if you decide that something would look better some place else AFTER you finish the drawing, it's so easy to do."

"I understand. I just like this one better. Good luck on your presentation." Kurt grabbed a trash bag from the pantry closet. "Put this on it to make sure it gets where it's going without anymore problems."

"Good idea."

* * *

Monday afternoon, Kurt came in and found Sebastian asleep on the sofa with a textbook on his chest. He gently moved the book and covered him with the small blanket that was on the sofa nearby. He took the baby monitor with him and went to check on the girls, who were both still asleep. He could smell something delicious and went back into the kitchen to check on whatever it was, but he didn't need to worry. Sebastian had put dinner in the Crock-Pot. He checked and it had already moved to warm, so it was fine.

He put the baby monitor on his desk and spent an hour getting as much homework done as he could before the girls woke up. He changed them and let them play in their cribs on their tummies while he read sitting in the rocker in their room. Once they began to fuss, he moved them to the dining room and fed Rose some baby food green beans. He had to sing and entertain her to get her to eat. He tried to do it as quietly as he could, but she got excited and started to squeal, which woke Sebastian up.

He looked down and noticed that his book was laying to his side and that he had been covered up. He smiled. _Kurt. He covered me up and took over taking care of the girls so I could nap._ He stretched before he sat up. He folded the blanket back up and took his textbook to the table and sat down.

"Thanks for taking over when I fell asleep."

"No problem. How did your presentation go?"

"Well, I had to be careful what I said about what happened because none of them knows about Rose. But everyone liked the hand-drawn plan, so it went well. I should know our grade by Friday."

"That's good. I saw that dinner's ready. You can take over with feeding Rose the bananas. I got the green beans in her already. I'll go plate our food."

* * *

Two Weeks Before Halloween

Sebastian came in the door Thursday right before 2:00 to find that the dining room table had been covered with a vinyl tablecloth with jack-o-lanterns and bats with several layers of newspaper on top. He turned and saw Kurt in the kitchen drying a pumpkin and another sitting on the counter already clean and dry.

"I got us pumpkins to carve."

"I see that."

"I saw the tools in the drawer ages ago, so I figured you've done it before. I've always loved carving one, or two, or maybe more," he laughed. "But this year, due to inevitable time constraints, I have gotten us one each."

"I'll go take off my hoodie so I don't get the cuffs gross."

Kurt moved both pumpkins to the table while he was gone, along with the carving tools. He went in his room and brought out two thin permanent markers and put them on the table as well. He started some music on his phone and began to sketch out his design.

Sebastian joined him and they worked diligently. "What song are you playing?"

"'Danse Macabre'. I like the intensity and the movement."

"Parts of make me feel like there's some creepy toymaker working his fingers to the bone making weird toys."

Kurt smiled. "Part of it makes me feel like a room full of people in fancy clothes have been put under a spell to dance until they drop."

"Ooh, you're right. It would fit as the music in a scene with Professor Umbridge punishing students for dancing around in their common rooms by making them dance until they drop. She's so awful."

"She really is, but Imelda Staunton did an amazing job of making it all so utterly common and normal."

"I agree." He turned his pumpkin towards Kurt. "What do you think?"

"It's adorable. Yours looks like Blue or Magenta while I'm sitting here making mine all creepy. I'll be right back." He came back with some fingernail polish and a few Q-tips and "erased" what he had drawn. He put the lid back on before he got up to get a paper towel wet on one edge. He wiped his pumpkin down and dried it off and started over. "I have some paint we could use on them."

"Sure."

* * *

Halloween

The four of them sat in patio chairs at the end of the driveway and handed out candy to the kids that came by. Rose and Aliza were dressed as mulberry and violet teddy bears. Earlier that week when the temperature dropped suddenly, they had splurged and bought them new Sherpa-textured, thick sleeper-style, one-piece teddy bear coats with attached feet and fold-over mittens to keep their hands warm for the winter. Kurt made some matching ears for himself and Sebastian out of deep green and navy to match hoodies they already owned and pinned them on so they could match the girls.

Kids came by in the most amazing and awful costumes, but Kurt found something positive to say about each and every one, Every kid walked away with a smile on their face. Sebastian gave double candy to the kids who had explained how they had made their own costumes. They finished the 2-hour Trick-or-Treating period with only a handful of candy left.

Before they took the girls back inside, they managed to pose both of them individually and together in one of the big white rockers on the front porch by putting a white blanket in the seat and Sebastian wrapping his arms around the chair from behind and holding onto them using the blanket. They also took pictures of each other and selfies of all four of them together.

Kurt had put a roast, carrots, and potatoes in the Crock-Pot earlier in the afternoon. They ate and fed the girls before they settled on the sofa to watch _It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_ together instead of reading books. It had been Kurt's tradition with his mom and he wanted to continue it with Aliza. Neither of the girls actually watched, but they allowed themselves to be entertained enough with the toys Kurt and Sebastian had brought out to the living room to make it through the whole show.

Once it was over, they gave them their bottles and put them to bed. Both dads were glad that the girls had finally made it to sleeping about six to seven hours in a row at night. They put them to bed around 9, let them sleep until midnight, gave them another bottle, and then they both slept until about 6 or 7 the next morning.

They went to their own rooms after putting the girls to bed. Kurt did some work on a paper he had to write. Once he finished what he needed to get done on it, he showered and got ready for bed. Sebastian worked on a drawing, and then went in the kitchen to empty the dishwasher.

When Kurt came out of the bathroom, he could hear Sebastian crying in the kitchen. He dropped his clothes inside his room and went to the kitchen. He found Sebastian putting dishes away. Kurt put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder and squeezed gently.

Sebastian turned and practically collapsed into Kurt's arms, letting Kurt help hold him up. "They didn't get to see her dressed up. They're never going to get to see her dressed up."

"I know," Kurt began to cry as well, thinking about how Finn would never see Aliza and how many times he had wished his mom was around to see him dress up. "But we were here to see them dressed up. And they were perfect and adorable."

"They were. They really were." Sebastian stepped back. "I sent a few photos to Mamie and Papi and Grandma and Grandpa. Mamie and Papi won't see them until the morning because it's already 4:30 in the morning there. Will you come sit with me in the living room?"

"Sure." Kurt followed him.

He pulled his feet up criss-cross and looked at Kurt. "I'm just wondering what you've decided? Or if you've even thought about it?"

"Decided about staying here?"

"Yeah. I actually really like you being here. I've wondered if you're okay with it or whether you're still looking for a place to move to."

"I've still looked some, but to be honest I like it here with you. I know you said that I'd be giving up privacy. And that's true in one way, but being here gives me privacy I'd never have in apartment. Here I can sit outside and there aren't 20 other apartments with a view of my front door or a potential small patio I might have. Here no one is nosy and watching me through a slit in their blinds because I ping their gaydar and I have an infant but no girl with me. My parents are more leery about me staying here than I am. They're concerned you'll change your mind and just want me to move out without warning. I told them that you wouldn't do that."

"I wouldn't. I won't. I promise. Tonight's the first night I've cried since you moved in. Before that, it was pretty much an every night thing once Rose was asleep. Being a single dad and going to school full-time is hard. You know that."

Kurt nodded.

"And having you and Aliza here just makes the house not seem unbearably empty anymore."

"So, we're agreed then? Aliza and I will stay until you're tired of us being here or you make some other plans that don't involve living here anymore, like switching to a different school or something? And you'll give us a few weeks notice so I can find someplace else for us to live."

"Definitely."

"Alright then, you have two new roommates."

"On my nights to cook, I'll still probably do Crock-Pot meals. I'll keep watching you cook, if you don't mind. Once I feel more confident, I'll branch out to something not from my Crock-Pot cookbook."

"I like stews and soups just fine. And once the girls get a little older, like around Christmas for Rose and this spring for Aliza – we can puree them into meals for them."

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. Would you like to watch a movie or do you have more schoolwork?"

"I always have more schoolwork, but I'm tired of thinking."

Sebastian picked one of his favorite French movies and put it in.

* * *

The next day Kurt sent the photos he wanted to print to CVS between his first two classes. He picked up some magnetic frames and a large pack of alphabet letter and number magnets quickly at Michael's after he picked up the prints at lunch. He had packed a peanut butter sandwich and milk for lunch, so he could eat and drive. He ate the raw carrots he had packed on the way back to campus.

As soon as his class let out, he drove home. He managed to get home before Sebastian. He had printed the best individual photo of the girls, and then he printed the best one of the four of them together. He also printed out a few cute photos of the girls that he had on his phone in a smaller size. He got all of the photos in the magnetic frames and spread them all out on the refrigerator. He spelled out "Rose", "Aliza", "LOVE", and "2013" on the fridge. He put the bucket with the rest of the letters and numbers on his desk to put in the girls' room once they were awake.

Sebastian texted Kurt that he would be home just a little late. He stopped by CVS and went through the half-price candy and bought a bag of the bite-sized chocolate bars that both he and Kurt liked. He also stopped by the bakery and brought home a fresh loaf of French bread to serve with the soup in the Crock-Pot. His last stop was a Red Box to pick up a movie.

He came in and could smell the soup. He opened the bag of candy and divided the bag into five storage bowls and put them in the pantry. He stopped in front of the fridge on the way back and saw what Kurt had done.

"Kurt?" he called out quietly as he approached Kurt's bedroom.

"Mmm hmm?" He looked up.

"The fridge looks great. Those pictures are adorable. And the alphabet letters are cute. Are there more?"

He pointed to the back edge of his desk. "I got a big set so they can play with them when they get bigger. I remember sitting in the kitchen our small stepstool trying to make words when my mom was cooking."

"I had a set too." He picked the bucket up. "Thanks for doing that. It's really cheerful."

"You're welcome."

 _When they get bigger._ A huge smile appeared on Sebastian's face. _When they get bigger._

* * *

"The bread was a really good addition to the soup," Kurt said as he put the last of their dishes in the dishwasher. He turned to wash the crock.

"I'm glad you liked it. I haven't bought anything at that place that we haven't liked." Sebastian put the lids on the bowls he had put the leftover soup in and put them in the fridge. "When you're done, I have a surprise for you."

"Another one?"

"Two actually."

"Two?" He rinsed the crock and left it in the dish drain to air dry. He dried his hands and turned around. "I'm done."

Sebastian chuckled. He knew that Kurt much preferred the crock to be dried and put back in the cooking unit than to be left to air dry. "Okay. Walk over to the pantry, but then close your eyes."

Kurt crossed the room and stood next to the door with his eyes closed.

Sebastian opened the door. "Step to your right." He waited. "Okay, open your eyes."

It took Kurt about 30 seconds to scan the shelves to find what was different. He reached in and picked up one of the storage containers. "You went after-Halloween candy shopping."

"I did. And I got us a movie for tonight. As soon as the girls go down at 9:00, you can find out what it is." He winked and turned to pick Aliza up out of her high chair. "You, my little cutie, are my first dance partner tonight." He went in the living room and started some music.

* * *

Westerville – Early November 2013

The weekend after Halloween was their weekend to go shopping. Sebastian drove them to Westerville Saturday morning. Kurt was still avoiding meeting his grandparents, so Sebastian pulled up to the library.

He picked up the Red Box DVD case for _Monsters University_ that was between them. He smiled. "This was fun last night. Thanks for getting it."

Sebastian smiled and nodded.

"Just text when you pull into the parking lot and we'll come out," Kurt said from the sidewalk of the library. He waved as Sebastian drove off.

He had planned to spend a couple of hours at a park like he had the times he had gone to Costco before, but it was overcast and threatening rain. He pushed Aliza inside the library and looked for the children's department. Once he found a comfortable place to sit, he unfastened Aliza and took her violet bear coat off and fastened her back in the stroller. He slipped it into the storage area under the seat.

Now that she could sit upright with her back supported, he had to be cautious at all times because she was starting to try to grab for things all the time and ended up tipping herself over in the process. He put her toy key ring in her hand. Next, he grabbed one of his textbooks and opened it on the table in front of him. He moved the stroller back and forth alongside the table while he read, looking up every page or two and making eye contact with Aliza.

He managed to get in 45 minutes of reading before she started to fuss. He grabbed a bottle, took her out of the stroller, and held her while she drank it. He made silly faces, winked at her, spoke quietly at times, hummed, and stroked her cheek occasionally while she took the bottle. Despite having more to read, he knew how important it was to make eye contact while she was being fed. His phone vibrated and he turned it over to read the text.

-My grandparents really want to meet my roommate and his beautiful daughter. Can I please come pick you up and bring you back here? We'll only stay for 30 minutes, unless you're enjoying yourself. I'll leave Rose here and come get you, if you'll come.

Kurt texted him back agreeing to the request. When Aliza finished her bottle, Kurt put her fleece bear suit back on and got her back in the stroller. He packed up his book, put his own coat on, and went to wait for Sebastian.

Once they were out of the parking lot, Sebastian got up the nerve to ask, "Do you dislike old people?"

"What? No, not at all. I actually find them to be very interesting. They have lived through so many things and usually have really interesting stories to tell. The lady that lived next door to the house we moved into after my dad married Carole – she and I became good friends when I came back from Dalton. I helped her get her flower garden like she wanted it, did some cooking for her, and helped her with little household things she couldn't do for herself anymore, like changing light bulbs and the furnace filter. "

"Okay. I just asked because you've always refused to come with me to see my grandparents."

"Oh. I just figured they wouldn't want me around. I didn't want to impose."

"But I invited you."

"You invited me, but I didn't know what they wanted. Some people just agree to not make waves."

"It wasn't like that. It's not like that. They already like you."

"They've never met me."

"But Ikindoftalkaboutyouallthetime."

"I didn't catch that," Kurt said.

"Fine. I kind of talk about you all the time." Sebastian blushed slightly.

"Oh."

"You're a really important part of my life. I've never had a friend that I've shared so much with. Even once I stopped pretending to be someone I wasn't, I didn't really embrace the real me. I just kept to myself."

"In about two months' time, you've become my closest friend. And don't smart off that you're my only friend. As far as people that I've called my friends before, you've definitely seen more of the real me than anyone other than Sam. It doesn't get much more real than bed-head in my beat-up pajamas at 3am trying to reassure a crying infant."

Sebastian chuckled. "That's true. The real you is kind and gentle and loving."

"I always thought I'd like to have a baby or two. My plan had been for that to happen in about ten years, but she's perfect and she's here now."

Sebastian turned and slowed down. "We're here. Relax. Just be yourself. They'll like you."


	7. Chapter 7

Sebastian knocked on the door.

"Come on in. Come on in. It did decide to go ahead and rain, didn't it?" Sebastian's grandma said, looking past them on the porch.

Sebastian let Kurt and Aliza step in first. He shut the door behind them once he stepped through. Kurt sat Aliza's carrier down, moved the lightweight blanket he had put over her to help block the drizzle, and took her out so he could get her out of the bear suit.

"Oh, my look at you, beautiful. You have a fuzzy purple bear suit. I'll hold her while you take your coat off, if that's okay."

Kurt handed her over and slipped his coat off and hung it on the hall tree by the door where he saw Sebastian hanging his. She handed Aliza back. Kurt unzipped her coat and slipped her arms and legs out. Sebastian reached for it and hung it next to Rose's on the hall tree.

"It's nice to meet you, Kurt. I'm Dorothy Smythe, but feel free to call me Grandma, or Dotty, if that makes you more comfortable." She walked towards the living room where Rose was being entertained.

Rose saw Kurt and a huge smile spread across her face.

Kurt winked at her and she giggled.

She reached out for him.

"Just a second, sweetie. I have to put Aliza down before I can pick you up." He saw a folded playmat on the chair. "Can Aliza lie on that?"

"Oh, sure." She grabbed it and put it down on the floor.

Kurt placed Aliza on her back under the arch of toys. She started batting at them and kicking her feet in excitement. Kurt turned and picked Rose up and kissed her on the forehead.

She grabbed his nose and laughed.

"That's my nose. Put that back, please," Kurt teased. He pretended to take it back and stick it on his face and wiggled his face like he was getting it back on straight, causing her to laugh again.

Sebastian popped up behind Kurt and surprised her and she practically threw herself out of Kurt's arms to get to him. He stepped forward and took her. "Hello, sweetie. Did you miss Papa?"

"Pa!"

"That's me." He took her hand and put it on his chest. "Papa."

"Bapa!" she squealed.

Sebastian's grandpa got up and offered his hand to Kurt. "I'm Richard, but I'm sure you were already told to feel free to called me 'Grandpa'. It's nice to meet you, Kurt."

"You too."

Aliza began to fuss.

"She probably needs a new diaper."

"This way," Sebastian said.

Kurt picked her up, grabbed her bag, and followed Sebastian to one of the bedrooms. It had a portable playpen and a contoured changing mat on the twin bed.

"This use to be the room I stayed in when I came."

Kurt nodded. He put Aliza down and changed her. He looked around and found the diaper pail. "There we go. That's got to feel so much better."

She cooed and smiled.

He picked her up again.

"I'm going to go ahead and change Rose, too." Sebastian moved swiftly and was done quickly with a practiced ease. He picked her back up. He noticed Kurt staring off into space, looking disconcerted. "Relax, Kurt. They aren't homophobic. They've known I was gay since I was 12."

"What? Oh, no. I'm fine. I was just thinking about something totally not at all related to me being at your grandparents' place. Let's get back out there. I'm fine. Really."

Kurt followed Sebastian back out to the living room.

"Oh, good. You're back. Lunch is done. I know you have errands to run before you head back home." She ushered them over to the table. "I'm sorry. We just have the one highchair."

"It's fine. We don't have one for her at home yet. That's one of the things we're going to get when we're out today. She's gotten strong enough to sit up in one now."

Everyone took a seat and the food was passed around. It was a casual meal of sandwiches, a vegetable tray with dip, and a fruit salad. The ability to eat it all without needing to use a spoon or knife was a big help since Kurt was holding Aliza while he ate.

Richard broke the silence. "So, Sebastian said you're an education major."

Kurt nodded. "Yes. I'm studying Secondary Music Education and I'm getting a French endorsement since a lot of smaller schools don't have the budget for a full-time music teacher. I'm also taking theatre classes. I'd like to be able to run an after-school drama club for the students. My high school had a poorly run club led by, well I won't get into that, but he left the beginning of my sophomore year. And after that, we had volunteer directors who knew nothing about theater productions."

"That's a shame," Richard said. "Performing gives kids a place to try out other roles, and it can help build confidence, even if they never perform again after high school."

"I agree. We did have a Glee Club. We competed against the Warblers a few times. Without it, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have survived high school."

"I'm sure we saw you perform, then. But it's been a while, and I'm sorry to say I don't remember," Dorothy said.

"Let me think," Kurt said. "We had an all-girls number. Wait. This is easy. We weren't the madrigal choir."

She chuckled. "I remember now. Your group didn't sing all together like the others. There were different people in the songs."

"Right. The group of girls, the Troubletones, broke away from our group in the fall due to some issues I won't go into. But when they lost to us at Sectionals, we offered to let them rejoin us and compete with us for the rest of the year, with the proviso that they still got to do one number in our set by themselves. We went on from Regionals to win Nationals that year. You wouldn't remember seeing me personally because I wasn't one of the featured singers. I wasn't one of the director's favorites."

She said, "It's such a shame when teachers have favorites like that."

He nodded and went back to eating.

Sebastian said, "For such a small school in a small town, there was a lot of talent in the group."

"There really was," Kurt said. "I haven't kept up with anyone really, but last I knew one of them got a lead in a Broadway show that should open soon or maybe it already opened. Another got offered a job as a back-up singer out in LA for an indie record label, with the eventual option of the label producing a CD of her original music. One got a commercial. There was a lot of talent in the group for sure."

"This is a nosy question, which you don't have to answer, but it is because of Aliza that you haven't kept in contact with any of them?"

"Coming to OSU was like a do-over for my life. I went to New York last fall. I did some amazing things. I also found that the performing arts school I went to was a lot like high school. There was a huge hierarchy. The professors all had their favorites. I worked for _Vogue_ , which was really amazing, but also an eye-opener. I met a couple of nice people, but honestly, I'm not sure that I still want what I thought I did. Sometimes I think pushing teenagers to go to college directly out of high school isn't a good idea. Working at _Vogue_ for the school year in the internship gave me a lot of insight into the field I wouldn't have otherwise gotten."

She said, "I can see how that could be true for a lot of high schoolers. I don't think there are that many people who ended up doing exactly what they thought they would when they were 18."

"I also found out that just because we had graduated, the people from high school were still treating me like I wasn't allowed to grow up and figure out what was right for me, like they knew what was better for me than I did. I'm not sure that makes much sense without any context. They all thought I should do something that I didn't want to do. Starting over without any of them in my life is giving me a chance to navigate life my own way without other people being backseat drivers."

Everyone nodded.

"I don't need details," Dotty said. "We've all met our share of know-it-alls and I wouldn't want to spend my life dealing with any of them if I had other options."

They finished eating, but Sebastian was still feeding Rose, who decided that she did actually want to eat when he started to put the unopened container of baby food away. He took it in stride and opened it and started to feed it to her. She kept trying to grab the spoon, but he had quick reflexes and managed to keep a hold of it and feed her without spilling the food all over her or the tray. Kurt kept looking over at them and smiling. He also noticed that the photo of Sebastian and Rose he had put in a magnetic sleeve was on the refrigerator, which made him smile all the more.

* * *

"So, you're just going to get the same one I got, but in the striped pattern?" Sebastian asked as they turned to go down the aisle with the high chairs in Target.

"Exactly. I know how much time you spent mulling over which one to choose, and if you chose this one, then I'm convinced." Kurt picked the high chair box up and put it in their cart. "Let's find something that Rose would like." He stepped right next to Sebastian and kissed her on the forehead. "Qu'est ce que tu aimerais, ma petite Rose?" He looked through the baby toys. "Hmm."

He showed her a set of toy keys and got no response.

"What about these?" He showed her a set of chewy teething toys on a ring like a key ring. The ring and the five "keys" on it were all a different texture and the keys were brightly colored shapes.

She grabbed for it.

"Aha! I think we have our winner." He kissed her on her forehead again and dropped the toy behind her into the cart.

"And why are you buying Rose a new toy?"

"Because, the other day, she wanted the toy keys that Aliza had so grabbed the ring from her, but when Aliza cried, Rose let go. I told her that for being so nice, I would get her a set of her own. Now, we just need another pack of those toy straps because I love the toys staying in the stroller or car seat instead of ending up on the floor or floorboard."

Sebastian found them and tossed a pack into the cart. "Baby carriers are next on the list. Next aisle."

They had both researched their choices and chose the same model because it seemed to be the one with the most features, longest possible use, and the best design for men to wear. Kurt grabbed a green one and a gray one and put them in their cart.

"Baby wipes. Costco didn't have the ones we like last time and I had to make an extra stop to get them," Sebastian said. "Let's just buy them here and not risk it."

Kurt pushed Aliza in the stroller around the end of the aisle and Sebastian followed pushing the cart. Kurt grabbed the wipes and put them in the cart when he could reach.

"Anything else?"

Sebastian looked at the list they had made. "The playard."

"Of course." Kurt turned back and went to the aisle they had skipped over. He put two boxes under the cart. "That's it, then."

* * *

"Well, it looks different in here," Sebastian said.

"It does, but with the leaf out of the table, moving it off-center, and just leaving four chairs in here, we have room to put make the playard as big as it will go, and it will give them a lot space to move around and play."

"I'll just have to get used to walking on this side of the table. I've always walked along the wall to get to the back part of the house, but it makes more sense than putting in on this side and having to walk all the way around it to get into the kitchen since we usually come in the side door, not the front door."

"I'm glad we brought dinner with us. I'm beat. I wouldn't have wanted to cook. I haven't ordered anything from there that I haven't liked." Kurt stood and collected up the containers of Indian food, put them in two glass storage bowls with the extra rice divided between the bowls, and put the bowls in the fridge.

"Me either. Do you have homework that you have to do?" Sebastian rinsed the containers quickly and tossed them into recycling bins in the garage.

"I'm too tired to do what I have to do. What did you have in mind?"

"A movie, as soon as these two go down at 9:00."

"Would it be okay if I go ahead and shower? I'll watch them while you go after me."

"Sure."

* * *

When the movie ended, Sebastian used the remove to turn the TV off. Kurt was staring off into space like he had been earlier.

"Hey."

Kurt looked up.

"Something's bothering you."

"Today's November 2nd. That means that Thanksgiving is in a little less than four weeks."

"Okay?"

"It's the first 'Family Holiday' since Aliza was born and old enough to go somewhere because she was only a couple of weeks old on the Fourth of July. You already figured out who her biological father is."

"Well, you never actually confirmed my guess, but you didn't deny it either."

"So, a few weeks ago, Carole brought up how much she'd like her family to get to see Aliza."

"Okay."

"They aren't open-minded or accepting of me."

"Oh."

"So, that's what flashed into my mind at your grandparents' earlier. If he were here, he would probably be living in Lima with our parents. He would obviously go to his mom's family's big Thanksgiving event in Zanesville. All of her family would 'ooh' and 'aah' over Aliza, and I wouldn't be there. But that's not how things are. If I let her take Aliza to her family's event, Aliza won't get 'ooh-ed' and 'ahh-ed' over because she's not Finn's – she's mine. Comments like 'How did a 19-year-old fag end up with a baby?' would be a lot more likely." Tears streamed down Kurt's cheeks. He wiped them with the back of his hand. "They won't automatically love her. Sometimes, I just wonder if I did the right thing. I could have moved back in with them until she was old enough to go to school and been the live-in nanny so that my parents could have adopted her and still kept their jobs. I could have taken every possible class I could at OSU Lima, and then maybe driven to Columbus two or three days a week while Carole stayed home with her. I could have done my student teaching in Marysville or something. Then Aliza wouldn't have to grow up with people hating her daddy and excluding her because of me."

Sebastian got up and grabbed a few napkins from the kitchen and came right back. He handed a few to Kurt, as he sat back down. "I didn't know about Carole's family. That's a really tough position to be in."

Kurt nodded and wiped his eyes and nose. "When I made the decision keep her and raise her myself, it was a quick decision made in hopes the mother wouldn't have an abortion or just leave and put the baby up for a private adoption if she couldn't find a place to get an abortion. She was right at the break point between the second and third trimester and I'm sure she could have found someone out-of-state to say that she was on the acceptable side of the line."

"So, I take it that Finn didn't know she was pregnant before he died."

"The mother and Finn weren't together anymore. She hadn't told him."

"So, her family doesn't know?"

"No, they don't. There were just a lot of things we didn't initially consider, like these family events. My dad was just finishing up his cancer treatments and recovering from that. It's his second term in Congress, and he feels like he can make a difference. With them traveling back and forth, they weren't really in a position to care for an infant 24/7. Plus, in the last…" Kurt paused. "Wow, it's just been three years. Three years ago, he's had a heart attack and a heart arrhythmia event that left him in a coma for a while, and then he found out that he had cancer close to a year ago."

"That's a lot."

"Yeah, it is. That's what made having them adopt her seemed like a bad idea. I'm just not sure I made the right choice. What if I've doomed her to a life where everyone hates her like they did me? She would probably have been better off being raised by a heterosexual couple that really wanted a baby – people with family members that would accept and love her. She's so perfect. What if she hates me for not being straight? What if she–" He wiped his eyes and nose again. "I'm sorry. I'll stop."

"No, don't close yourself off. It's not good for you. I know it's your go-to coping method, but I care. I think about very similar things. I know my dad's parents would miss out on seeing her, but I wonder if I should have just taken Rose to France to live with my mom's parents. I could have gotten her an au pair during the daytime while I was in class. I have an aunt and uncle and cousins there. Maybe I should have let my mom's sister Marie adopt her. She's five years younger than my mom and she had my cousins when she was older. Madeleine is six and Liam is three now. She had Liam while I was there. Rose could be growing up with my cousins as her siblings and have my mom's whole family around to dote on her."

"I didn't know."

"I struggle too. I know how hard it is. I wonder every single day if I'm doing the right thing." Sebastian began to cry as well. "There was nothing in their will about where Rose should go. She wasn't in their will at all. They hadn't updated it since the summer after I turned 18. We never talked about something like this happening. I don't honestly know what they wanted. Maybe they would have wanted Rose to go to Aunt Marie and be raised with my cousins. I could have sold the house and moved back to Paris."

"Is that what you want to do? You could still go."

Sebastian wiped his eyes and nose on the napkin he had kept. He didn't answer and when he finally spoke, he changed the topic. "What if we celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday? My grandparents could still do their regular Thanksgiving meal with my grandma's brothers and sister that they do on Saturday. And they could go to my grandpa's brother's place on Thanksgiving Day. I wasn't planning to go to either of those by myself, anyway. I'm the youngest and everyone else in my generation has moved on. I only saw most of them at Thanksgiving growing up. We weren't close. I'm not even sure what we are – second cousins, twice removed or something. It's just been me that's under 40 the last couple of years anyway. Maybe I'll go next year when Rose is older, but spending three hours in a car each way doesn't sound like a good way to spend the day. We could have your parents here on Friday and maybe my grandparents."

"I'll ask Carole. I think she's going to be really down because it's her first Thanksgiving without Finn, so I'm not sure what to expect."

"I actually have a favor to ask you."

"What?"

"Next Thursday, I have to meet with the members of my group project in the afternoon again."

"I can watch Rose."

"You're sure? I don't want to mess up your schoolwork schedule."

"I'm sure. I'll look through my planner tomorrow and rearrange anything that I need to. I'll need to ask you the same thing for the Winter Concert I have to participate in for my vocal music performance class. Or I can ask Amaline. I know she said feel free to ask, but to expect 'no' if we asked her for evenings since she works for another family after school and early evenings, but she did say she might say 'yes' once in a while."

"My mom was super excited that she was going to be available at the end of the school year, which was when my mom went back to work. She took a 2-month maternity leave. I don't remember if I told you – the past two years during the daytime, Amaline had been caring for a toddler whose parents went back to France after the father graduated from OSU in May. The first couple of weeks back at work, my mom came home early, but then once I was out of school, I watched Rose between when Amaline left and my mom came home. My mom was working on changing her work schedule so she could go in an hour early, work through half her lunch, and then be home at 2:30, which is the absolute latest Amaline can stay."

"Well, her rates are really good considering that she's a licensed early childhood educator."

"She told my mom that she makes more money working as a nanny part-time for two families or more-than-full-time for a single family than she would as a daycare worker because she's not licensed here in the US. She'd have to go back to school, which she's not interested in doing. Her own kids are grown now and off to college."

"Well, both of the girls like her and she's very good with them."

"She is. I was glad when she said she was willing to watch Aliza too. That made it a lot easier for you."

"It did, but we've gotten way off track. I will stay home with both girls while you go to your group meeting. It's not a problem."

They both sat in silence for a while just zoning out. Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly several times. Sebastian leaned back into the sectional and tried to relax.

After about five minutes of silence, Kurt asked, "What if rather than a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Friday – what if we serve international dishes? If my parents and your grandparents come, they will have already had a traditional dinner the day before."

"Sounds intriguing. You know I like food in general."

Kurt smiled and nodded. "So, like maybe lasagna, enchiladas, an Indian dish, a Greek dish, and whatever else we come up with. We've got three weeks to plan. We can pack up the leftovers and keep them for reading week and finals week so we won't have to spend time cooking the two weeks after Thanksgiving."

"Ooh, now that it is a great idea. We should do that and we can choose dishes that freeze and reheat well. We can prep on Thanksgiving Day and have everything ready to cook on Friday. Are you going Black Friday shopping?"

"Only if we see something in the ads that we were already planning to buy that's on sale for a really good price. I can't actually think of anything right this minute, but we've got nearly four weeks before then."

"How about I run out the library as soon as the girls go down for their morning nap tomorrow and check out a stack of cookbooks? I know there are tons of recipes online, but I get tired of 15 ads breaking up the text."

"The trick is to find the 'Print this Recipe' button. It takes you to a clean version of the recipe, just text."

"Good to know. I'm still bringing home cookbooks."

"If you don't mind, I'll invite myself to look at them with you once we put the girls down to sleep for their afternoon nap."

"I was hoping you would. I'm going to go see if I can get a chapter read before they wake up for the midnight feeding." He picked up the textbook next to him on sofa.

"Good idea." Kurt let his head fall back. He closed his eyes and relaxed for a few minutes.

* * *

Kurt lay in bed wresting with the thoughts that were so frequent at night. Was all of this a big mistake? Should he just talk to his parents and allow them to adopt Aliza? The thought of it made his heart hurt because he loved her more than words could express, but maybe being his daughter wasn't good enough for her. He could still love her and be part of her life if they went back to Huntsville to live with his parents.

He cried for Finn – for losing him when they had just managed to start to get along. He cried knowing how much Carole missed Finn. His dad missed Finn, probably more than he missed Kurt. He was always so busy. He knew that his dad loved him, but he and Finn had a connection – a bond over common hobbies and interests that he and his dad would never have.

He drifted off to sleep feeling lost and adrift until his thoughts shifted to Sebastian and Rose and his tears abated as he smiled softly.

* * *

Sebastian lay in his bed across the hall, covers pulled up tight around his shoulders. He lay wondering if he should talk to his aunt. Would she even want Rose? He had never mentioned it to anyone until earlier that evening when he shared his doubts with Kurt.

He had been surprised by Kurt's display of emotion. He always seemed to put together and sure of himself. He had grown used to having to be strong, which Sebastian knew. He just hadn't realized that Kurt was still struggling so much, but earlier Kurt had let the mask slip and let him see some of the issues he was facing.

Sebastian's thoughts jumped around back to two years tp when he and Kurt had first met. He seemed unflappable then too. Why hadn't he considered that Kurt was doing the same still – still wearing a mask?

He had been so desperate for some companionship that he had intentionally gone to a single parents picnic, knowing full well that no one there would be even remotely like him. And everything changed – because Kurt came back into his life. Kurt, who had forgiven him for being mean. No, he had been worse than mean. He was vindictive, despite Kurt never having done anything to him. He had treated Kurt badly, but Kurt had forgiven him and had become his closest friend.

Two months. How could it only have been two months? He finally fell into a fitful sleep dreaming about being in New York City and attending Columbia, but with the strange twist that Kurt was there with him.

* * *

Sunday morning, Sebastian came back with specialty coffees, fresh bagels, and a big cookbook that he put on the table next to where Kurt was sitting. He slid the coffee in front of Kurt and put the bagels in the toaster. He got plates and a knife out and waited. Once the bagels popped up, he put them on the plate and sat next to Kurt. He pulled out the strawberry cream cheese he had gotten for himself and the jalapeño cream cheese he had gotten for Kurt.

Kurt took the asiago cheese bagel and spread the spicy cream cheese on it and took a bite. "This is so good." He licked his lips to get the cream cheese off. "Thanks."

Sebastian swallowed before responding. "You're welcome. I love their strawberry cream cheese. It's just the right amount of sweet."

"I'm sure it is, but I like the spicy cream cheese too much to give the strawberry a fair chance."

Sebastian chuckled.

"Did you only get one cookbook?"

"Well, I looked through a bunch, but they were all missing the key information I needed to know, and you weren't with me."

Kurt tilted his head just a bit. "Key information?"

"Yeah. Whether or not the dishes could be frozen and reheated and still taste good. This cookbook only has recipes like that in it. I figured we could go through it and pick out dishes that were completely different from each other and make them."

"I hadn't considered that when you said you'd go get cookbooks, but you're right, some things to don't survive the freezer well after they've been cooked." He went back to eating.

They both finished before they started to look through the cookbook. Kurt got up after looking at a few pages and grabbed his pack of post-it note flags, a notebook, and a pencil. They marked the recipes that they thought looked the most promising as they went through each page. They went back through the marked pages and narrowed down their choices until they had 14.

Kurt said, "If we make all of these on Wednesday and Thursday, we can go ahead and freeze the portions we'll need for our dinners for the two weeks. We can serve the rest on Friday. And if we still have leftovers, we can eat them for lunch too."

"Works for me. We can set everything up buffet style on the island since we took the leaf out of the table to make room for the playard."

They heard Rose begin to stir in her crib through the baby monitor.

"I'll start to make a shopping list," Kurt said. "If we like everything, we should buy a copy of this cookbook. The Crock-Pot meals are nice, but having some frozen meals as back-ups would be nice."

Kurt got to work on the list while Sebastian dealt with changing both girls. He brought them out and sat them in their high chairs. He pushed them next to each other before going back to their room to get two puppets to entertain both of them. It wasn't long before Kurt was singing harmony on the songs the puppets were singing to them. He got up and took one of the puppets from Sebastian and joined in the fun, putting off making the list until later.

* * *

That night when he was texting with Sam, he struggled to keep up his end of the conversation without spilling any information about the girls. It was getting more difficult and complicated to carry on a conversation that made any sense because as the girls got older, they were interacting more and becoming part of the action rather than just sitting on the sidelines being spectators. But he knew that it wasn't just his secret and he managed to muddle through. He stopped texting and called instead. He got Sam talking about New York and modeling and that helped. He ended up in the closet with the door closed to keep from making too much noise. A smile spread across his face listening to Sam talk about some of the crazy photo shoots.

* * *

Thanksgiving 2013

Kurt sat down next to Sebastian at the table to sample what they'd been making over the course of the day. He brushed against Sebastian's arm as he did, which caused him to have to refocus. He knew why he was so jumpy and on edge, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it. He'd struggled with it all day. He focused in on his food. He took bites of several different dishes. "I think I like everything we've made so far."

"What? Oh, yeah. Me too." Sebastian chucked. He had nearly missed what Kurt said, caught up in his thoughts.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, I was thinking of when we both reached for the large spoon to stir the sauce at the same time and we sent it flying."

"Your apron will survive. I scrubbed it with a toothbrush while you cleaned the floor. Plus, the colorful batik pattern will help hide the inevitable stains."

"It's thanks to you that I was even wearing an apron. The ones you made for us are a comfortable and the towel loop is very handy."

"Ready to get started on the cheesecake?"

"Cheesecake? That's not on the menu for tomorrow."

"It's just for us. And we can give the girls a bite of the filling."

"They'll love that, I'm sure." He grabbed both plates and put them in the dishwasher. "I'm ready when you are."

* * *

"Well, I know what to get Carole for Christmas this year," Kurt said, as he locked the door and reset the alarm. "I'm buying her a copy of that cookbook. My dad liked everything he tried and Carole can cook the stuff up for him when she goes to DC and leave it in the freezer for him when she leaves." Kurt washed his hands and started to help with the clean up.

"I'm glad they liked our unusual feast. I did too."

"Me too, but I had hoped today would be more cheerful that it was, though. She seemed excited about the idea last weekend when I told her our plan, but they didn't stay long after they ate. I think that what I was talking about has finally dawned on Carole. They went to her family's dinner yesterday. I'm sure seeing the other babies there was really hard on her."

"I'm sure it was, but her family's pig-headedness is not your fault."

"I know. I just feel bad for her."

"You're going to come with me Sunday, right?" Sebastian asked as he continued to load the plates into the dishwasher.

Kurt started to hand wash the dishes that couldn't go into the dishwasher. "Do you want me to? I guess I kind of figured that they didn't come today because they wanted you and Rose to themselves."

"They asked you themselves when we were there the last time," Sebastian reminded him.

"I know, but sometimes people invite people out of social nicety, not real interest in having the invitee actually come to something. My dad used to take me to things that he had been invited to, and then I was completely excluded after we got there. He had been invited, but the kids of the people who invited us didn't want me there. I'm very familiar with social invitations to save face."

"It's not like that with them. I promise. I know you don't trust people with good reason, but they do actually like you and Aliza. I thought you knew that by now."

"Then, we'll go with you, if you want us to."

"I do. Aliza can show off how well she can sit up on her own and we can all cheer for her."

Kurt just shook his head and smiled. "Rose is so close to crawling. It's going to be any day now. She puts one hand forward and rocks and then the other, but then she just moves them back."

Sebastian nodded. "Mmm hmm. I think she needs the two of us to get down on the floor and demonstrate some more."

"Sounds like a plan for when she wakes up."


	8. Chapter 8

Dublin – Early December

A week later, Kurt was wearing sweats and a hoodie sitting at the kitchen table. He let his head drop, landing on his forearm to pad the impact. "I don't want to study anymore."

Sebastian turned and looked at him. "That's going to be hard to pull off. You've got at least five semesters of school left. And you mentioned possibly adding the History endorsement to make yourself more marketable." He teased before he went back to paying attention to what he was cooking.

"Shh. Don't remind me."

Sebastian chuckled. "The girls will be up soon. They'll entertain you for a while. That should clear your head. You can't possibly be down after we feed the two of them and bathe them. It's too much fun to watch them splash in the sink."

"You're right." Kurt sighed and closed his notebook and textbook. "Do you need any help?"

"Not really, but lemonade sounds good, even though it's cold outside."

"I'll make some."

Sebastian put the diced chicken he had been sautéing into the stockpot with the vegetables and rice. "We can eat it whenever we want. I'm turning it down to warm." He stirred it one last time and put the lid on.

When Kurt finished making the lemonade, he put it in the fridge. "I'm going to do some stretches before they wake up. Maybe that will get my blood flowing and I'll remember what I'm reviewing." He sat in the hallway that led outside and started with butterfly stretches.

Sebastian went and sat in the open space between opening to the hallway and the playard. "I should add a 1-credit dance class next semester. I feel like I'm super out of shape now. I don't go jogging anymore and I'm not going to play lacrosse this spring."

"We could take one together. If I were still at NYADA, I'd take dance every semester. If I'm going to be any good at coming up with choreography for my future choir or Glee Club, I'm going to need more dance training. I was thinking Modern or Jazz."

"Jazz, definitely if you're hoping to learn something useful for a choir. Modern will be too slow and it involves being on the floor a lot. It's very moody, if that makes any sense. It's like interpreting the music through movement. Not much of it would crossover into something that could be considered choreography for a group, but it could really help with expressing yourself."

Kurt changed positions and continued to stretch. "I wonder if I could do both. I'll have to see what I have room for based on when the classes are offered. We both picked our classes like a month ago. I bet we could still add one."

"I miss tapping. I might see if can fit it in."

"Is that why the center part along the back wall in the garage has a wood floor?"

"It is. I used to practice out there. My parents had that 6x12 section put in when I really got into it when I was about eight or nine. You can use the space to practice if you want. There's a small electric heater out there you can turn on and warm that area up first, if you decide you want to use it. I can show you which storage tote it's in. The baby monitor will work out there."

"I'll definitely do that since I could practice here rather than trying to fit it in some time while I'm on campus." He turned and lay on his back and pushed up into a bridge and then kicked over to standing.

Sebastian's eyes grew wide, but he regathered his wits before Kurt stood up. He wondered where he'd missed the detail that Kurt could do gymnastics. He didn't manage to wipe the surprised look from his face completely.

"Obviously, you missed the part about me being a cheerleader."

"Um, yeah. I guess so." He tried not to show other than a regular amount of interest in learning something new about Kurt.

Kurt stepped around Sebastian and picked his phone up off the table. He pulled up the Cheerleading Nationals video and handed it to Sebastian. He went back to stretching while Sebastian watched the video.

Sebastian tried to keep his eyes on the phone, but Kurt doing the splits and more stretches kept distracting him. He did his best to keep Kurt from noticing his struggle. Fifteen minutes later, Sebastian exited YouTube and put Kurt's phone to sleep.

"Well, that was definitely entertaining." He put Kurt's phone back on the table and sat back down on the floor.

Kurt sat criss-cross and faced him. "We won."

"I can see why. So, you sang lead and won the National Championship and Mr. …"

"Schuester," Kurt provided.

"Mr. Schuester didn't see fit to give you the lead?"

"I'm too effeminate to be the male lead in anything. Even my own dad basically said so. You think so. Everyone thinks so, except Adam. He was really supportive, but I never could really tell whether he was serious or not because he seemed so serious when he said things that were complimentary. He was a really good actor, so reading him was really hard."

"You said that Adam was your friend. I would think he was being sincere."

"He probably was, but he's one person out of everyone I've ever met. It doesn't matter. I'm not working towards being a performer anymore anyway." He heard Aliza babbling and got up to go get her, hoping that Rose would still sleep if she needed to. He picked her up swiftly and quietly and brought her out to the playard kissing her all over making her smile. "Did you have a good nap, beautiful?"

Aliza cooed and babbled in response.

"Well, that does sound nice. I'm going to let you play with your toys on your playmat while I get your bottle ready."

While he was getting it, Rose woke up and Sebastian went to get her. He changed her before he brought her in and put her in the playard. He picked Aliza up.

"She needs a new diaper too. I'll go change her."

When he came back, he found Rose in her high chair. Kurt was feeding her a jar of broccoli and singing to her to get her to eat it. Sebastian sat down with Aliza in his arms and gave her the bottle Kurt had put on the table.

"Just think, Little Missy, in a month or so, that will be you getting fed broccoli or green beans or something really green for dinner," Sebastian teased.

Aliza kicked her feet because he sounded so enthusiastic.

He continued on in a sing-song happy tone. "You're excited now, but that's because you haven't tasted how truly terrible it is."

Kurt laughed and stumbled over the words to the song he was singing to Rose. He got her to eat all of the broccoli and opened a container of pureed apricots, which went down quickly with no need for entertainment to get her to eat them. Once she finished, Kurt put a sippy cup with a baby bottle nipple on her tray. She was getting better at it, but needed a little help to tip it up to start each time. She was used to reclining when taking a bottle, so the tipping the cup up part was a new thing for her still.

He got up, poured the glasses of lemonade, ladled the soup Sebastian had made into deep bowls, and put everything on the table. By the time he had done that, Aliza had finished and Sebastian put her in her high chair with a couple of toys with suction cup bottoms on them. Rose was trying to lean out of her chair to play with the toys Aliza had. Sebastian stuck a toy to her tray as well.

Kurt took a bite. "The soup is good. You've come a long way from 'I eat take out for dinner every other night.'"

"I guess I have. I hadn't thought about it really. It's been gradual. I didn't stop tonight and ask any questions at all even though it was a new recipe, now that I think about it." He took his first bite. "It did come out really good. You're a good teacher."

"Well, I hope I will be in a few years, otherwise all of my students will dislike me as much as I disliked most of my teachers."

"That's not going to happen. You're kind and patient. They'll like you."

"Not two descriptors I've ever really associated with myself, but thanks for saying so." Kurt looked down at his bowl and mindlessly stirred his soup.

"Wait. You don't believe me. I can tell."

Kurt looked up. "Accepting compliments isn't my forte. I think that was Adam's goal actually. He complimented me about something not long after we met, and I deflected. He repeated the compliment and waited patiently for me to accept it. This went on the whole time I knew him. I spent time thinking about it and one things I came up with was that he was just saying nice things to get me to learn the art of accepting positive statements because it's part of the process at NYADA. When you go in for a critique, the professor will point out both the good and the bad of a performance. I think he just wanted me to learn to accept a positive statement before I went through that process, so I wouldn't argue back with the professor or something."

"I suppose that's possible, but I think it's more likely that he might just be the type of person that enjoys pointing out positive things about people. Didn't you ever know anyone who just randomly said nice things to people?"

Kurt thought for a little bit. "Brittany. She used to say nice things. Mercedes a long time ago."

"Maybe he's just like that, but since he's a guy, it just felt different."

"He wanted us to date."

"You didn't like him in that way?"

"I could have if I had been away from Rachel and Santana. They butted into everything. Rachel was initially supportive, but then seemed to believe that Blaine was my Prince Charming and she was 1000% convinced that I would eventually take him back and we'd live happily ever after."

"Sounds like she had a crush on him."

"She did. If he had been bi, she would have never gone back to Finn after the train wreck of a party she threw my junior year."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow and shrugged slightly, looking completely clueless.

Kurt told him about the party.

"There's more to it than that."

"There is, but it falls into the 'list of red flags Kurt ignored about Blaine', which is a list I'm not interested in rehashing right now. We were talking about Adam."

"Go on." Sebastian let it drop, but wondered about the details Kurt had left out and what the other red flags were.

"Right. Adam and I spent time together whenever I could manage to have an hour or more free, which wasn't often between working two jobs and going to school. I was dealing with my dad's cancer. And as soon as that issue was just beginning to fade, Finn died and we found out about Aliza. When I went back to New York after Finn's funeral, I was behind on schoolwork, and I had made my choice about Aliza. We just stayed friends. We parted ways amicably. He assumed that I came back to be closer to my dad. I never said anything to contradict that belief. It was what I let everyone think. I came back here when the semester ended and he was going to try to get a role in New York. And if he didn't, he was going to go back to England to try auditioning for West End roles. We email back and forth some. He got a small role in an off-Broadway play, so he's still in New York for now."

"That makes sense. And I'm certain that living with Rachel and Santana and not killing either one of them makes you eligible for sainthood."

Kurt chuckled, and then shook his head. "It was an experience. That's for sure. Not long after Santana moved in, she went through everything in the loft – every box, every drawer, every cabinet, everything. And when we got upset, she just smarted off about it being 'a thing she does'."

"So, you traded one crazy situation for another."

"I did. But truthfully, this is better. I needed to get away from 'Lima Kurt'. I went to New York, but with the two of them there and several others planning to follow, I still had this role of caretaker and problem solver. And here, I have that same role, I know, but now it's for a little human who actually needs a caretaker and problem solver, not a group of pseudo-adults with drama queen attitudes."

Sebastian laughed.

"I know you thought, or maybe still think, I'm a drama queen, but I don't think you really understand the phrase drama queen until you've lived with Rachel. Once, she decided that she needed to rest her voice and when her phone rang, she wrote, 'Take a message for me?' on a sheet of paper and held it up."

Sebastian swallowed wrong from laughing when he was eating. He took a couple of drinks and stopped coughing after about a minute. "You're making that up."

"I'm not."

"Has she never heard of voice mail or people texting when the other person doesn't answer?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Drama queen behavior and logic rarely co-exist."

"Just for your knowledge, I never thought you were a drama queen."

"Next your going to tell me that you didn't hate my clothes."

"I didn't. Your clothes wouldn't even have really been an issue if we had met in Paris, but I knew that you couldn't have been winning any popularity contests by wearing them in Hickville, Ohio. You were not my target, but our verbal sparing was fun. I realized back when we ran into each other in the park that day that my assessment of the whole situation was wrong. I made a lot of false assumptions."

"And I made assumptions as well."

"But yours were based on what you had seen and heard. Mine were just …"

"Assumptions that turned out to be wrong. There was literally no way you could have known what I was going through or what I had been through. There was no reason for you to have been able to guess that my teammates or fellow choir members, or whatever, actually included people who had previously tossed me in dumpsters and thrown pee balloons at me. I never told anyone besides… That doesn't matter anymore. What I was saying was that I hid everything well behind a mask of indifference and sarcasm. You not being able to see though that was merely a testament to my ability to hide things well, not a fault of yours."

"I still feel bad."

"Which merely proves that you're not the self-absorbed manwhore and jackass that you portrayed yourself to be for a while. Kudos to your acting abilities as well. You played the part perfectly. I had no idea there was a real boy inside with real feelings who is an absolute softie."

"Hey, now."

"Umm hmm. I've seen you blow raspberries on baby tummies about a hundred too many times to be fooled." Kurt winked at him.

Sebastian play huffed and rolled his eyes.

"And I've seen your comic book collection and super hero pajama pants. It actually makes me think of Sam, who I really miss."

"You said that he lived with you."

"He did. He and I were good friends before that though. I haven't told him about Aliza." A few tears escaped. "He's a really good friend and I trust him more than I've ever trusted anyone, but I don't want him to be in the position that I'm in. It's hard to keep my life with you and the girls out of our conversations. I don't want him to be in the same position with other people that he's still in contact with."

"If he's that good a friend, I think he'll understand."

"I don't know. It's been almost six months of lying by omission." Kurt wiped his eyes. "I just don't want to put him in the middle. He's friends with people who are still at McKinley and with the others that have graduated, both this past year and the year before."

"I get that, but if you change your mind, it would be okay to invite him here. We've never really discussed having people over, but we can. Or we can wait until one of us actually has someone we'd want to invite over. Other than the dean of my department, I've never told anyone about Rose. If I need to meet with people, I just suggest places on campus."

"I haven't told anyone other than the person I talked to in the Registrar's Office about getting a waiver to get priority registration status. I do the same thing you do – meet people on campus. I'm not ready to let anyone else into my life right now. Being able to leave Aliza at home to be cared for this summer and since we moved in with you takes the worry out of childcare. I can't really thank you enough for letting us live here. I had been really stressed out about next semester and having to put her in daycare."

"I can imagine. And it's no trouble having you here." Sebastian wanted to tell Kurt how much he enjoyed having him there, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He had realized that he was in love with Kurt the day they spent cooking together the week before, but he was afraid to risk losing what they had.

"What were we talking about anyway? Adam, drama queens, assumptions…"

"I know what I haven't said that I want to," Sebastian interjected.

"What?"

"I am really sorry about throwing the slushie at you and at Santana. It was really childish and mean. I look back at that and I can't even figure out how that was me. And Dave's attempt was like being dumped into tank full of ice water. I couldn't believe that I had become a bully after having been on the receiving end of bullying before. It was this power trip that felt good for a while. I learned a lot about myself that I didn't like. I had the opportunity to be a leader and instead I became power hungry. I went to counseling. I worked through the issues of feeling helpless and powerless. I guess I just want you to know that I won't ever do that again."

Kurt nodded. "I know, but thank you for telling me. I wouldn't have agreed to move in here if I had any residual fear that you'd do anything to hurt either of us." He reached out and put his hand on Sebastian's arm. "You made some bad decisions, but you learned a lot and you changed. I'm not sure why Dave's attempt was your turning point, but I'm glad that you realized that you were on a path you didn't want to continue to follow."

"Why did he matter to you? I saw you talking to him at Scandals that night."

"He's why I went to Dalton."

"What do you mean?"

"He had always been part of the jocks that bullied the losers in a free-for-all 'target a loser' way. But junior year, he made it personal. He began to by-pass other losers and I became the 'loser of choice', I guess, for lack of a better descriptor. I told you my dad had a heart attack and had ended up in coma."

Sebastian nodded.

"This was going on during that time period."

"Got it."

"So, when we found out who our competition would be at Sectionals, Puck suggested that I go spy on the Warblers. I won't get into how that came about, but I headed to Westerville. I met Blaine that day. I followed some stupid advice. I followed Dave into the locker room after he had intentionally knocked my phone out of my hand into the concrete wall and shoved me hard. That encounter led to the two of us screaming at each other and him kissing me when I thought he was going to hit me."

"He outed himself to you in a terrible way."

"Bingo. I couldn't tell my dad. He hadn't been out of the hospital that long. And in my absolute fear that I'd get more than a kiss the next time, I told Blaine because he didn't go to McKinley. Blaine thought that talking to Dave would be a good idea. He and I approached Dave, but rather than waiting to get Dave to go somewhere private with us, Blaine started the conversation on the outdoor stairwell. Dave shoved him into the chain link around the stairwell. I pushed Dave off of him. Dave walked away. After that, he got creepier. It got more personal – like him stepping into my personal space and putting his finger on my chest and running it down. Anyway, he threatened to kill me if I told anyone else."

"Oh, God."

"I didn't tell anyone else. The intense bullying went on for about three weeks, which at the time seemed like forever. Then he made the unfortunate mistake of harassing me where my dad saw one day after school when I was giving him and Finn dance lessons for the wedding. Finn pushed me to tell my dad that Dave was bullying me and I let it out about the threat. My dad chased him down and pinned him to the wall with his forearm across Dave's throat and told him to pick on someone his own size."

"I take it that your dad isn't a pacifist like you."

Kurt snorted. "Not at all. Anyway, he took it to the principal. Dave was expelled. He was reinstated three days later because his parents appealed the expulsion. I left and went to Dalton."

"Wow. Why did you go back?"

"Lack of money to pay the second half of my tuition for the second semester. My dad was willing to take out a loan, but Santana decided to take it upon herself to figure out a way to control Dave. She observed him for a while and noticed him checking out Sam's ass."

Sebastian laughed. "He is good looking."

"Umm hmm. So, Santana blackmailed him. She forced him to apologize to me in front of the Glee Club. She also forced him to join her anti-bullying club and wear a silk-style jacket and beret and walk me to class. And on top of that, he became her boyfriend and had to run for Junior Prom royalty with her."

His eyebrows went up and he shook his head. "She's something."

"You're lucky you still have your body parts in the right places. The only reason she didn't tear you limb from limb was because she wanted to punish you in an even worse way."

"Public humiliation."

"And making you lose your power, which she values greatly. She let you win a battle in order to destroy you in the war."

Sebastian nodded, thinking about what Kurt was saying and piecing everything together. "I still don't know why Dave's attempt affected you so negatively. If anything, him being gone seems like it would have been a positive in your life."

"He didn't go to McKinley my senior year. He transferred to Thurston, so he was already out of my life. I mentioned Junior Prom."

"Yeah."

"Dave won Prom King, but it wasn't Santana who won Prom Queen." Kurt paused and took a deep breath and let it out. "It was me."

"You're not a girl."

"Thank you." He refocused. "I was stupid. I suggested that he come out when we walked down to the floor level for our first dance. He took off."

"Wait. You were expected to dance with him? You accepted?"

"I ran out at first. After a few minutes, I calmed down and decided that I wasn't going to let them get to me, even though I was dying inside. I went back in and I accepted my crown and title. He was still standing on stage at that point. It was when I suggested that he come out that he ran off."

"Okay."

"I was stupid. I knew nothing about his life. I had met his dad once. I didn't know that his fear about being outed went farther than what the jocks would do to him. He was so big, I just figured that he would stand up for himself and fight back and they'd leave him alone. I never thought through the issue from his point of view because I didn't know him well enough to."

"Go on. There's more."

"Yeah. So, I hadn't seen him since Junior Prom that night the three of us went to Scandals. We talked a little that night and cleared the air a bit more. I had accepted his apology the year before once he sincerely apologized. Anyway, the week before Valentine's Day, I started getting 'Secret Admirer' cards and gifts. I thought they were from Blaine. He wasn't at school and I thought he was doing something romantic because he had told me how much he loved the idea of Valentine's Day the year before. So, the last card said to meet up at Breadstix. I went. The gifts and cards had all been from Dave. He told me that he loved me." Kurt wiped his eyes with his napkin. "I turned him down. I couldn't figure out why he had done it. He knew I was dating Blaine. Anyway, a football player from Thurston saw him, and he was outed. I had such tunnel vision about how being out and proud was so much better than living closeted that I didn't look past my own supportive father and consider the fact that the jocks would take it as a personal issue that a gay guy would change with them. I was always forced to get dressed in a part of the locker room by myself. The guys knew I was gay and stayed covered up around me, but Dave was one of them. Anyway, he tried to call me, over and over again, but I ignored every one of his calls. Nine calls I ignored. I thought he was trying to win me over somehow after what he had told me. But he was reaching out, trying to find someone to support him while he was dying inside. Instead, he tried to kill himself. I know that it was his choice, but I felt terrible that I had ignored his calls. What if answering could have prevented what he did?"

"There's no way to know."

"I know. I found out when I visited him in the hospital that his mom is one of those 'gays can be cured' types. His mom disowned him. That's what he was afraid of. If he had been outed on the stairs that day, his mom could have sent him to conversion camp or conversion therapy. It's legal in Ohio and he would have been a minor with no recourse to refuse. He had turned 18 before his attempt, so she couldn't force him to go. She could have also thrown him out. It happens pretty often. Why did it affect you so much?"

"When we were at Scandals one night, he tried to get me to teach him how to pick up guys. And seeing as how I actually suck at it, I blew him off and insulted him, giving him the impression that no amount of help I could offer would be enough for him to attract a guy."

"Ah."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that you were the third out gay teen that he had met. The second, Blaine, nearly publicly outed him. And the two of us both insulted his looks and desirability."

"I see. So, I merely reinforced whatever it was that you had said to him?"

"Probably. All of it lies, of course, because I've learned since then that bears are a hot commodity amongst a certain group of gay guys."

Sebastian laughed. "Um, yeah."

"I had no idea at the time, but anyway whatever you said to him wasn't why he tried to kill himself. I'm sure that both of us contributed to some body image issues, but feeling like there was no reason to live didn't come from our one-time comments. He had years of self-hatred floating around in his head plus a Facebook page full of people he had been 'friends' with, some for his whole life, telling him to kill himself and spouting their hatred for him and for gays in general. Adding that to the fact that I'm sure he knew his mother would disown him, I'm 100% sure it wasn't because either one of us said unkind things about his looks."

Sebastian nodded. "It made me do some self-reflection, though. It made me realize that my little power trips and verbal smackdowns made me exactly the kind of person that caused me not want to go to school. I went to France to avoid the very kind of person I had become." He was staring at his nearly empty bowl, eyes downcast.

"Is letting me live here some kind of penance?"

Sebastian's head shot up and his eyes flashed. "No. I asked you to move in because I wanted to. I enjoy your company. You're my friend now. I haven't been playing at anything. We had spent a lot of evenings together just doing schoolwork and watching a movie here and there before I asked you. I liked having you here. I like having you here." He got quiet. "We are friends, right?"

Kurt reached out to him again and put his hand on Sebastian's arm. "Yes. We're friends. Best friends."

He nodded. "What you said earlier isn't true about me."

"What did I say?"

"That I think you're too effeminate to be the lead in something. I'm sure I made you feel that way back two years ago, but I don't really think that."

"You walked up to a group of us in the Lima Bean and announced that you didn't recognize me at first because I was wearing 'boy clothes for once'. I wasn't really imagining your attitude."

"I had forgotten I said that. One thing I've learned is that it's easy to spout off smart remarks, but it's the person on the receiving end that remembers what gets said. I vividly remember you telling me that I smelled like Craig's List and that I have giant horse teeth."

"You have lovely teeth and a really amazing smile. Usually you smell like baby wipes." Kurt cracked up laughing.

Sebastian joined in. "Well, you have a fabulous smile and a great laugh. I'm sorry I made you feel bad about yourself."

"Me too."

Sebastian took a deep breath. "I'm just going to say this once and get it out there because we've been setting the record straight about things. Anything I said about your looks or your clothes was purely to tick you off. I was being mean. That's just the truth of it. It was a power trip, not the truth."

"I get it. I attacked Dave's looks to hurt him to try to gain some power in the situation that I felt powerless in. Different circumstances, same action."

Sebastian nodded. "I honestly don't remember all of the things I said to you, but I'm sorry for hurting you."

"Sebastian. Look at me."

He finally looked up.

"I forgave you already. It was two years ago. Things have changed. You've changed. I've changed. It's unlikely that either of us will ever stop being sarcastic, but we're not behaving like we did back then. You have to forgive yourself. You've learned from your mistakes."

He nodded.

"I think that's more than enough depressing flashbacks to high school. We have two beautiful little girls who are being very patient with our incessant talking and will find their baths a lot more fun." Kurt got up and cleared his place and put everything in the dishwasher. He pulled the dish drain out of the right side of the sink and moved it out of the way. He cleaned both sides of the sink and filled them about halfway with warm water.

Sebastian loaded his stuff in the dishwasher and went to get the towels and things they needed. Once they had everything set up, they got the girls out of their high chairs and got them ready. They still used mesh reclining bath seats for them.

Kurt said, "I think we're going to have to move this to the bathtub very soon. Miss Rose is getting a little too interested in sitting up and playing in the water to continue being bathed like this for much longer."

"I want to get those Otteroos I saw online. I'll order them tonight. I was going to get them for them for Christmas, but I think you're right. They need them sooner than that."

"Those really do look like a lot of fun. And we'll be able to use them this summer in a pool out back."

"A pool, you say?" He hip checked Kurt. "Spoiling them already?"

Kurt's heart sped up and he had to keep himself in check, not to let how he felt about Sebastian show. Ever since the day they had spent horsing around and cooking, he was having a harder and harder time restraining himself from admitting that he was in love with him. "A large inflatable pool will be fun for all four of us. We can get in with them and splash around. And with those rings, we won't have to constantly worry."

"A pool big enough for all of us? Sounds fun. We can set it up on the porch so we can skip having to put sunblock or long-sleeved shirts and hats on them."

"Or me."

"Or you. Are you still planning to leave Tuesday evening?"

"Yeah. I'm working 10-hour days Wednesday through Saturday. And then a combination of 10-hour and regular 8-hour days for the two weeks after that."

Sebastian focused on bathing Rose. He gave her one last rinse and pulled her out and wrapped her in a baby panda hooded towel. Kurt was right behind him in the process and wrapped Aliza in a baby horse hooded towel. He followed Sebastian to the girls' room. They diapered the girls and put them in sleepers.

"Story time," Kurt said. He grabbed a few books off the shelf and they all went down to the living room.

They sat next to each other and put their feet up on the blanket-covered coffee table while holding the girls and reading the books to them. They turned the girls facing forward on their laps sitting close to each other in the center. Kurt took the first book off the stack and started to read it to them. Sebastian read the next one. They alternated until they had read all of them.


	9. Chapter 9

"Shall we move on to the crawling lessons?" Sebastian asked.

"Definitely." Kurt got up and put Aliza in the spinning bouncy seat.

Sebastian put Rose down on the floor behind the sofa. Kurt got down next to her on his hands and knees. Sebastian moved so that he was facing Rose and encouraged her to move towards him. She smiled and rocked back and forth and put her right hand forward, which got her a big smile from Sebastian.

"That's right, Rose. You can do it. Move your other hand forward next."

Kurt demonstrated. Rose followed along and put her other hand forward and then rocked back and forth again, but didn't move her legs.

"Maybe she thinks she can't," Kurt said. "The hardwood floors are slippery. Let's either take her sleeper off or put something down on the floor."

"Let's just move the coffee table. We'll put her on the rug."

They got up and carried the coffee table into the open space between the living room and dining area. Sebastian picked Rose up and put her in front of the sofa and they tried again. She repeated the arm movements and this time tried to slide her right leg forward when Kurt was showing her what to do.

"Maybe she just doesn't see the point in it yet," Kurt said. "She rolls everywhere. And even though is slow, it's effective."

Sebastian chuckled. "I know. It's totally adorable, but all of the baby books say that it's important for her to learn this skill, so we'll keep working on it." He turned to Rose. "You can do it, sweetie. Come on. Come to Papa."

"Pa-pa-pa-pa!"

"Well, she's getting there with that," Kurt said, smiling.

She turned to look at him. "Papa's right, Rose. You can do it. Let's try again." He moved one hand and then the other.

She imitated him. He moved his leg forward and reached over and pushed her foot to encourage her to move forward. She pushed against it and moved forward a little.

Sebastian praised her and she smiled.

"Let's just take her sleeper off. Maybe it's interfering," Kurt said.

"Sure, why not? She won't freeze in five minutes. She has an undershirt on underneath." He got up and got a bag of the freeze-dried fruit baby snacks that she loved. He sat it next to him on the floor and took a few out of the bag.

She started rocking again. She saw what he had and wanted it. She put one hand forward, then the other. She pulled one knee forward and finally attempted to move the second knee forward. She didn't make it forward more than a couple of inches, but she got a lot of praise. She did it again and again. Sebastian moved closer and put one of the fruit snacks in her mouth, and then backed up just a bit, but she could still see the others in his hand. She moved her hands forward again a little farther in front of her and then she moved her legs enough to steady herself.

"You've got it, Rose," Kurt encouraged her.

She did it one more time and Sebastian put another bite in her mouth. After the third successful move forward, Sebastian gave her the last one and moved close enough to pick her up and hold her. He hugged her.

"You did it, Rose!" He kissed her on the cheeks. "That's enough of a work out for tonight. Papa is going to get you some leggings and the socks with grippy bottoms that he saw at the store." He put her sleeper back on. "I think you might be right. The sleeper is too floppy around the knees and the feet are longer than hers. I think maybe she can't get a grip or something. What do you say to an impromptu shopping trip?"

"Sure. I was zoning out when I was studying anyway. So much of it is common sense that I read along going 'uh huh, yeah, right' and then I remember that I was supposed to be memorizing the information. It's like reading a recipe. You know what you're making. Let's say potatoes au gratin. You read through it and it says: peel the potatoes, slice the potatoes, put the potatoes in the pan, and it goes on. You read through the whole thing and it makes perfect sense. BUT the test is going to cover whether you can supply the recipe from memory."

"I get it. Maybe you could make flash cards with each step on a card, with the step number written around the edges or something to help you associate the information with the step, and you can quiz yourself."

"It's worth a shot. After we get Rose some leggings and socks, maybe we can grab some index cards."

"Not a problem."

* * *

Second Week of December

Early Monday evening after dinner, instead of dancing around, they moved the coffee table again and put Rose down on the carpet in the leggings. Ten minutes into their crawling lessons she was halfway across the rug. Sebastian kept moving backwards and Kurt crawled alongside her. Suddenly, it seemed to click. Right hand, left hand, right knee, left knee. Right hand, left hand, right knee, left knee. She covered the remaining distance in a matter of a minute or so.

"Oh, my God. You did it, Rose!" Sebastian picked her up and hugged her. He kissed her on both cheeks and put her back on the other side of the rug and went back to the end.

It didn't take long before she had crawled right back to him. He put her back one more time and Kurt faced her on his hands and knees like Sebastian instead of crawling alongside her. She made her way across the rug again and crawled up to Kurt, who smiled and picked her up and kissed her on the forehead. "You're such a big girl, Rose. You can crawl!" He held her close and hugged her.

Sebastian took the opportunity to get his camera. He got back down on his knees. "Put her back over there one more time. I want to get a picture of her."

Kurt put her back down and she smiled and made her way back across the rug to Sebastian. "Pa-pa-pa-pa!" she squealed, as she got closer.

Rose was kicking her feet with all of the excitement. Kurt picked her up and put her down on the carpet too. She was just beginning to army crawl to move around a bit. After giving Rose another hug, Sebastian put her back down and she crawled over to Aliza, who started kicking her feet in excitement again.

Kurt laughed. "You've unleashed unlimited danger," he teased Sebastian. "Now that she can get around easily, she get can find all sorts of things like cords and outlets."

A wave of panic flashed in Sebastian's eyes. "I have to go shopping tomorrow morning after my final."

"Good idea."

* * *

Later that evening, Kurt kissed Aliza and Rose on the forehead before he left for the Winter Concert. Sebastian was staying home with the girls for the evening. Kurt arrived on time to warm up at 7:30. At 8:00, he was in formation on the risers when the curtain opened.

Kurt was featured in a men's quartet as the second piece. He stepped forward and saw Sebastian sitting in the third row towards the center. He had to force himself to maintain his composure. He was featured again in an octet about two-thirds of the way through of the first half of the program.

After intermission, the program turned into an audience participation concert with everyone singing the most well-known parts of Handel's _Messiah_. When the program ended, he returned his robe to the rack in the wings and headed out into the auditorium.

"You're here," Kurt said, still surprised.

"I am. You didn't think I was going to skip out on your only performance this semester, did you?"

"Well, honestly, yes, since you were supposed to be otherwise engaged this evening."

"Oh, well Amaline is attending to that prior engagement. Come on. I want to go get dessert somewhere before we go home."

They left the auditorium together and split up outside. They met back up the frozen yogurt shop they both loved. Sebastian arrived first and was waiting outside for Kurt.

"Going out for a frozen dessert in December is crazy," Kurt said.

"Yeah, but we both like it here. Plus, the truth is that I don't know where else to go out for dessert at 10 at night. I saw on a flyer they were staying open until midnight every night this week because of finals."

They grabbed bowls and filled them with frozen yogurt, added their toppings of choice, and got in line.

When they sat down, Sebastian said, "You were great by the way. I didn't know you could sing classical music."

"I didn't either until this semester and I started taking voice lessons. It's been an interesting challenge."

"A challenge you rose up and met. You sounded great."

"Thanks."

"Why didn't you invite your parents? I figured your dad would want to be there."

"He doesn't really enjoy classical music. Plus, he's still in DC, so he couldn't make it, even if he wanted to. I was really surprised to see you. Thanks for coming."

"I enjoyed it. The program was really nice. I've never been to a _Messiah_ sing-a-long. That part was fun."

* * *

Kurt lay in bed that night thinking about going to Huntsville the next evening. He had agreed to the work schedule before he had even run into Sebastian at the park on Labor Day. At that point, he was looking forward to spending winter break with his dad and Carole, but now he realized how much he longed to stay in Dublin with Sebastian and Rose.

He flashed back to earlier that afternoon when he had restrained himself from hugging Sebastian and Rose when she finally got the hang of crawling. And he had to keep him from hugging Sebastian when he came out into the auditorium after the concert that evening.

He knew that at some point over the last three months, he had fallen in love with Sebastian and he loved Rose like she was his own. He had admitted it to himself Thanksgiving evening. The idea of leaving them for three weeks was breaking his heart. He wiped the tears that stream down his cheeks.

_I'm in love with Sebastian and I'm leaving for three weeks._

He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind, but memories of Sebastian's gorgeous smile and his laugh pushed their way back to the forefront of his thoughts. Sebastian blowing raspberries on both girls' tummies. Seeing both girls' eyes light up when Sebastian sang to them. Watching him dance around the room with each of them while they smiled and giggled. He worked hard in school and was kind and gentle and sweet. And entertainingly sarcastic. Kurt smiled and wiped his eyes again.

He did his best to relax so he could fall asleep. He needed to be rested to do well on his last final exam the next morning. He finally gave up and turned some music on softly to try to focus on something else, which didn't really help that much. He started his song naming game starting at D this time.

"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"  
"Duke of Earl"  
"Dancing in the Street"  
"Damaged"  
"Dance in the Dark"  
"Dust in the Wind"  
…

* * *

Sebastian lay in his bed and cried. He didn't want to spend winter break alone. The house had always been decorated long before this point in the season, but he hadn't been able to make himself pull out any of the Christmas decorations. He hadn't brought it up and neither had Kurt.

His mind wandered to their serendipitous meeting in the park on Labor Day. He flashed forward to the unfortunate fire in the unit next to Kurt's that led him to need a place to stay and how he had eventually agreed to stop looking and just stay with Sebastian. A little pang of hurt hit him when he remembered Kurt asking if it was out of a feeling of guilt that he had let him stay, but then just a few minutes later, Kurt had said that Sebastian was his best friend. A best friend he sorely needed, but he wanted more than that.

He thought of how much he wished Kurt would just kiss him every time he leaned in to kiss Rose on the forehead while she was in his arms, but he never did. Kurt didn't give him any indication that he saw him as anything besides a friend. Every time they sat and watched a move, he struggled not to snuggle close to Kurt. When they sat so close together to read books to the girls, his heart ached just to take Kurt's hand and interlace their fingers.

_I'm in love with Kurt_. _I'm in love with Kurt and he's leaving for three weeks._

* * *

When Sebastian got home from his final late Tuesday afternoon, Kurt had all of his and Rose's stuff packed up in his CRV ready to leave. Rose and Aliza were asleep. Kurt carefully moved Aliza to his room, changed her on the portable changing mat from the diaper bag, put her bear coat on, and got her in the carrier. He had a bottle ready and gave it to her. He put her diaper bag over his shoulder, picked her carrier up, took her out through the door from the house to the garage, and fastened her in. He went back inside to get his coat. He left the gifts he had gotten for Sebastian and Rose on his desk, but said nothing about them.

When he looked for Sebastian and didn't see him anywhere, he knocked lightly on his bedroom door.

"Come in." Sebastian was sitting at his desk with a textbook.

"We're heading out now. I didn't want to just vanish."

Sebastian nodded. "Let me know you get there safely, okay?"

"I will. Good luck with your last two exams." He pulled the door closed and went in the girls' room. He kissed Rose softly on the forehead and whispered, "I'll be back as soon as I can, my sweet Rose. I love you. I'll miss you." He left the room quietly.

Sebastian heard what Kurt said through the baby monitor. He smiled sadly and a few tears managed to escape. He wiped them and went back to studying.

Once he had pulled out into the driveway, Kurt took a moment to center himself and began to sing to Aliza to keep himself from crying as he drove towards the highway.

* * *

Huntsville

Kurt came in from work exhausted Wednesday at dinnertime. He took a shower and went into Aliza's room through the bathroom as quickly as he could. She had obviously woken up while he was in the shower and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Carole was holding her and trying to console her.

Kurt rushed over to her and reached for her. Carole put her in his arms and she leaned into him and started to calm nearly instantly. She was still breathing pretty raggedly and gulping for air as he swayed back and forth. "Honey, what's wrong?" He began to sing to her softly in French and she calmed the rest of the way and began grabbing for his nose and smiling.

"It's been a long day. She cried herself to sleep earlier. I did everything I know to do, but I can't sing like you in French."

"Everything is different here. I've been reading those baby books. This is a hard time in her development to bring her here and completely change everything about her life. I know you know that it's not personal, but she's used to Amaline now, who only speaks French during the daytime. And when she's there, I only speak French as well. I'm sure she misses Rose. She doesn't have the ability to remember when Rose wasn't with her 24/7. That book also talks about how some babies switch from three naps a day to two around six months and how their bodies are struggling because it's a big growth spurt time as well. It's just going to take a lot of patience. When I agreed to cover the vacations at the shop back in August, I hadn't read ahead in the books. I didn't know this would be a bad time to disrupt her schedule. And if her body wants to change the schedule she's used to, that just makes it harder because we can't guess all that well."

"Let's go eat. I put some soup on to simmer. It's ready." She still sounded defeated.

Kurt nodded and followed her down to the kitchen. He had brought the removable seat part of Aliza's highchair with them and strapped it to one of the kitchen chairs the night before. He sat her in it and sat down. Carole put their soup on the table.

"If she's fussy again tomorrow, put her on her side and rub circles on her back. I'll record a couple of songs on your phone in the voice messages that you can play for her. You can see if that works."

"We'll try it."

Kurt interacted with Aliza and the toys she had on her tray and ate as quickly as possible. "I'll help you get the baby carrier adjusted to fit you as well. She likes to be carried in it. It will free up your hands to do other things."

She nodded, but tears streamed down her cheeks.

"This is harder than you thought it would be."

She nodded again, but still said nothing.

"Try not to feel like she's rejecting you. She's not. She's just confused, and I'm sure a little afraid. She's old enough to realize that she's not at home. We all feel off-center when we stay in someone else's home."

"I know. She's just a baby and I miss seeing her as much as I did at first. I know it was a huge struggle and I wasn't getting to see Burt and that was hard too. I can't have it both ways. Burt should be my first priority and he is, but I miss Finn so much that it's hard to breathe some days and with Burt in DC and you in Dublin and me here alone, it's just really hard. I didn't want to be in Lima to be constantly reminded of everything that Finn had been a part of. I felt like if I was away from seeing it, it would be easier. Maybe it is. I don't know. But I also moved away from the people I had worked with for years. It's not like I socialized with any of them outside of work, but I did eat meals with them. None of this is your fault, honey. It's just a lot of things weighing on me all at once. This was Finn's favorite time of year. No school, lots of food and presents."

"I remember him talking about it and how disappointed he was that we didn't do most of the stuff he loved to do that first Christmas when we moved over winter break. But we did that next Christmas. I had to chase him out of the kitchen to keep him from eating all of the treats I was baking."

She laughed. "I'm sure you did. Last year, he and I went to Zanesville when Burt went to New York to see you."

"Yeah, that was a rough Christmas. Dad brought Blaine, who I did not want to see. And he told me he had cancer. We've had a rough year."

"We have. I think that's part of it. I don't have any cheer to share with my granddaughter. Seeing her happy cheers me up, but when she's the one that's upset, I don't have much to draw from to comfort her. Today, I just ended up crying too."

"Let's clean this up, read some books, and watch a Christmas movie."

A few minutes later, Kurt arranged the coffee table with the cushion from the chair on top of it. He positioned himself the way he did at home. He put Aliza on his lap facing the TV. "Go grab a few books, and then sit right next to me." He patted the couch.

She sat down next to him when she came back.

"Scoot closer. I know it seems weird for the two of us, but that's what Sebastian does with Rose. We sit together and read books like this so they can both see the pages. We don't really watch TV very often with the girls, but we sit like this when we do. Put your feet up like me. Let's see if we can pull this off. Sebastian and I switch off. I'll read first while you hold her." Once Carole was situated, Kurt slid Aliza onto her lap. "Hold the other side of the book." Once she had a hold of it, he started to read a French book.

Carole read her the next book in English. They switched twice more. Aliza had stayed in Carole's lap the whole time without crying. Kurt picked up the remote control and chose a Christmas movie on Netflix. The two of them stayed sitting side by side the whole time. Aliza squirmed around and climbed on the two of them, but she didn't fuss at all.

"We put them down at 9 and they sleep until about midnight. Then, they get a bottle and go back to sleep until 7 in the morning. We do a lot of our studying during that time. We get up with them in the morning and feed them ourselves before Amaline comes. Once she arrives, we both get ready and either leave for class or stay in our rooms to get more schoolwork done. So, today probably started off badly when she woke up and the three of us weren't here. I'll be sure to get her ready in the morning before I go. Maybe that will help."

"I can see how this morning would have been frightening for her. We'll hope for a better day tomorrow. I'll help you put her down now, so she gets used to me being part of the process."

* * *

Rose and Sebastian's day didn't fare much better. Rose kept looking for Aliza at breakfast and she cried when she was in the playard alone. Sebastian spent most of the day just trying to keep her company and entertain her. By the time he put her down at 9, he was exhausted. He texted Kurt.

-Rose misses Aliza. She's been unhappy all day.

Kurt didn't see the text immediately because he was putting Aliza to bed. Once she was finally asleep, Kurt took his phone out to read it and respond.

-Aliza had a terrible day. I feel horrible. She's not happy here. I tried to show Carole some things. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I'm getting ready to record myself singing on Carole's phone. She doesn't know any of the songs Aliza loves.

-I hope that helps.

-Me too. I'm sorry Rose had a bad day too. I miss both of you. I'm going to head to bed. I exhausted. My arms feel like spaghetti. I've not changed tires in a long time.

-I hadn't thought about that. We miss you too.

* * *

Burt had come back from DC late Friday night and was home when Kurt came in from work late Saturday afternoon. He had been at the shop for a few hours that morning working in his office, but he had left before lunch and they hadn't had any time to talk.

"Hey, Dad."

Burt looked up from his show and nodded faintly in greeting.

Kurt didn't hear anything but the TV. "Where are Carole and Aliza?"

"She took her for a drive because she wouldn't quit crying, and I needed some peace."

"Oh. I'll just go shower quickly." He was in the bathroom still when he heard Carole bring Aliza into her room.

"Come on, Aliza. Please stop crying."

Kurt redressed as quickly as he could and went into Aliza's room. Carole was changing her diaper when he walked in. He let her finish and then picked Aliza up. He began to sing and sway. She sniveled and gulped for air and after a few minutes, her breathing normalized and she relaxed.

"Honey, she barely calmed on the car ride. I played the CD I downloaded. It seemed to help a bit, but I just don't know what to do for her. I took her temperature. I checked to see if she's teething, which she's not."

"Let's go eat. I'm assuming part of Dad's grumpiness is from being hungry."

Kurt held Aliza while she took her bottle. When she finished, he put her in the high chair. He quickly ate the soup Carole had made. They ate in silence. Once they finished, Carole did the clean up. Burt asked Kurt to follow him out to the garage. Kurt picked Aliza up and detoured to her room to grab a blanket. Burt was sitting in his truck waiting. Kurt climbed in and pulled the door shut.

"This isn't working, Kurt."

"What do you mean?" He wrapped the blanket around Aliza and bounced her on his lap gently.

"Aliza being here is making Carole worse. She was crying when I got home. She feels rejected."

"I've already talked to her about it. I don't know what else to say. Aliza doesn't feel at home here. And Carole being depressed is rubbing off on her. The baby books talk about how it's around this age that babies really begin to understand facial expressions. It's like a negative loop. Carole is sad. Aliza can sense it and she's already distressed because the people she's used to being with aren't here with us, so she cries. Her crying makes Carole even more sad. I don't know how to stop the cycle. I agreed to work so much to cover the vacation time people wanted, but it was also because I need the money. You're covering my tuition, which I appreciate. And you paid my rent when I was in the efficiency, but you told me I had to cover everything else myself. I'm trying, Dad. I pay $150 a week for childcare and I don't have enough in savings for this coming semester. Working all of the shifts at the shop over break is almost enough to cover that. When I did my budgeting, I thought Carole would watch her all semester this fall. I had to start paying for childcare three months earlier than I had budgeted for. I honestly thought that the two of you were going to help with the childcare expenses when Carole quit coming and I had to pay someone, but I'll manage somehow. I think I'm going to go pack up our stuff and go home for the night. You can spend the evening and day with Carole tomorrow. I'll call you tomorrow evening."

"Kurt…"

"Look, Dad. I know you weren't really in favor of me raising Aliza. I get that. You wanted me to live my own life and not be responsible for someone I had nothing to do with creating. I know you didn't just want to abandon her, but you didn't want to raise her yourself for valid reasons. You've had some serious health issues. I may not have had any part in her creation, but I love her, Dad. She's my daughter. I actually like my life now more than I did in New York. The difference between me and Carole is that every time I look into Aliza's eyes, I see beauty and joy and I feel happy that I'm her daddy. All she sees is Finn not being here to be Aliza's dad. And instead of being happy when she sees her, seeing Aliza seems to make her sad."

Burt didn't say anything.

"I figured this was coming, honestly. Carole's family is big on Christmas. They have all sorts of get-togethers within her extended family. The ugly sweater-knitting weekend that follows Thanksgiving. Angel tree shopping one weekend. Others that I don't even know. If Finn were alive, Carole would be taking Aliza to all of those family events. Everyone in her family would be thrilled to have Aliza there. I'm sure that she and Finn would take her to one of Christopher's family parties too. Aliza would have had a huge supportive and doting extended family. The same would have been true if the two of you had adopted her and you had told everyone that she was Finn's."

Burt nodded.

"But since she's mine, none of that will ever happen. I'm persona non-grata in her extended family and there would be no reason to take MY daughter to see Christopher's family. I'm betting a good portion of Carole's sadness right now is because she can't take Aliza and show her off and let her be part of her own family. She's sad because she knows that her family will not dote on MY daughter. She's seeing for the first time, REALLY seeing, what prejudice is. She's never been on the receiving end and it's probably killing her inside now that she's realized that Aliza will never have what should rightfully be hers."

"You think that's it?"

"I do, but I don't know how to fix this, Dad. I've shed bucket loads of tears myself wondering if I did the right thing. I love her, but wondering if she's going to be teased because of me makes me doubt myself all the time. Every time I go out with her and people give me dirty looks because I'm clearly gay and I have a baby, it hurts. You need to talk to Carole. Aliza will come around and not be a clingy, fussy 6-month old forever. She will learn object permanence and she won't cry so much when I'm gone because she'll know I'll come back. Carole needs some professional help. I'm not saying that she needs medication because I don't know. I just know that when I was so upset, talking to someone really helped. She's going to have to be happy getting to be a part of Aliza's life in the way she would if Aliza were my biological daughter. If she's not going to be okay with that, I don't know what to do about that. You're not all that supportive, and if she's going to just be upset every time she gets to spend time with her, I'm not sure how all of this is going to work. Anyway, I'm going to go pack up our stuff and go home for a couple of days. You can cover my shift on Monday by going in and doing the more complicated, less physically-taxing stuff yourself and move one of the other guys to doing whatever else needs done." Kurt repositioned Aliza and reached for the door handle.

"Kurt, wait."

He stopped.

"I'm not going to change my mind and agree to raise her. I can't in good conscience. No one is guaranteed a long life, but I can't step into another 20-year commitment with how the last three years have gone. I'm not sure what to even say to Carole. Are you offering to give her to Carole to raise? I know Carole's not happy here. I don't know where she'd be happy. I suspect there isn't a place. But I suspect that she'd take her and live closer to her own family."

"And she'd grow up to dislike people like me on principal. I love her more than I thought possible, and I plan to keep her. I just don't know what to do about you and Carole. I think setting up a nursery here was probably a mistake. I think she spends too much time in there thinking about how things would have been. Finn would have wanted to keep her, just like he wanted keep Beth when he thought she was his. Carole would have raised Beth, no doubt in my mind. If Finn were around now, you'd still be living in Lima. Aliza would be living with you full-time. Finn might have moved out by the time she was old enough to go to school, but I doubt it. Carole always coddled him, which was her choice, but you know in your heart that she would have never made him do anything beyond get a weekend job or maybe go to school part-time."

"She has said several times that she thought you'd come home on weekends and stay here with us where she could care for Aliza while you studied and had some time to yourself. I think she feels slighted that you stay in Dublin on the weekends."

"So, she expected me to be Aliza's dad like three-quarters of the time and she'd get to care for her the rest of the time?"

"I think so, especially after you moved out of the efficiency. While you were living there, she was spending three days a week with her, but then you moved in with Sebastian. You didn't need her anymore. She doesn't feel that comfortable just asking to come over with you not living on your own."

"I like living with Sebastian. It's fun and it's a lot less stressful than living on my own was. Trying to study by the light of a clip-on book light when she was already asleep or putting a blanket over my head if she hadn't fallen asleep yet or started to stir was really hard. Her having a room where I can shut the door and cook while she's sleeping or exercise or study or do laundry – it's so much easier."

"I'm sure it is."

"And I have to wonder if she didn't honestly think that I would give up by the end of this semester and that I'd move back in with you two. It happens a lot."

"To be honest, she did mention it a couple of times, but I told her that I doubted that would happen. She quit bringing up, but maybe she kept the idea in the back of her mind."

"Well, going into my finals I had all As. I'm doing well in school and I don't have any plans to stop going. I think she's going to need some help coping with the reality that Aliza isn't a replacement for Finn, which is sort of how it feels. I'm going to head out before it gets any later. If I leave now, I won't mess Aliza's schedule up too much. I can still try to put her down at 9."

"I had wanted to spend some time with you over the congressional break."

"I know, Dad. I wanted that too. But look at your house. There's not a single indication anywhere that it's Christmas. Carole isn't okay. I need to do what's right for Aliza, and you need to be here for Carole. We'll talk again tomorrow night."

This time when he reached for the door handle, Burt didn't stop him.


	10. Chapter 10

Dublin

Sebastian heard the garage door go up and then close. He stepped out into the garage and helped Kurt bring their things back inside. He grabbed the high chair seat and fastened it back on the frame. He went back out to grabbed Aliza's diaper bag and her carrier. When she saw him a huge smile spread across her face and she grabbed for him. He unclipped her straps and took her out and hugged her.

"It's good to see you too," he said, as he smiled back at her. She leaned into him. He managed to grab her bag and shut the back door. He met Kurt coming back out.

"Well, it looks like you have what I came back for. She looks happy to see you." Kurt stopped on the step.

"I'm happy to see her too. I just told her so. Didn't I, beautiful?" Sebastian kissed her on the cheeks.

Aliza giggled and smiled even bigger.

Kurt turned around and went back inside. He closed and locked the door and rearmed the alarm.

"I have her bottle ready. I'll go change her while you get your coat put away."

Kurt hung his coat in the closet and heard squealing when Sebastian went into the girls' room. He went right in and found Rose in her spinning bouncy chair still smiling and walked towards her.

When she saw him she squealed again. "Da-da-da-da."

Kurt's face went ashen. He smiled at Rose and kissed her on the forehead. He moved over to the changing table. "I'm sorry. I'll finish Aliza." He put his hand on her chest.

Sebastian stepped out of the way. "Sure. I'll go get their bottles." He came back a few minutes later and got Rose out of the seat to take her into the living room. He left Aliza's bottle sitting in the middle of her crib since Kurt hadn't finished changing her yet.

Kurt laid her in her crib and gave her the bottle. He put her coat in the closet and stood there for a few minutes still shaken.

Sebastian came back a few minutes later to check on him. "Are you coming?"

"Um, yeah. I'll be right there." He waited until Sebastian had left the room before he picked Aliza up. He went down to the living room and sat down next to Sebastian.

Rose pushed her bottle away and sat up and grabbed for him as he sat down. "Da-da-da-da-da!"

Sebastian held her back from being able to grab Kurt's shirt, but she screamed and fought to get closer. Kurt stood up and put Rose down on the sofa next to Sebastian so he could put his hand on her chest. Kurt took Rose and sat back down. He took her bottle from Sebastian and held her. Sebastian turned to pick up Aliza, who squealed and kicked her feet in excitement.

Rose grabbed for Kurt's nose, obviously wanting to play.

"Did you steal my nose?" he asked, teasingly. "I need that." He put his hand over hers and pretended to take it back and put it on. He scrunched up his face and eyebrows, making sure it was on straight.

She laughed at him.

"What's the matter? Did I put it on sideways?" he checked and felt around his face. "It seems to be on the right way."

She laughed at him again and grabbed for his ear.

"Now, wait there, Missy. I need that." He took his "ear" back and put it back on.

She was laughing really hard.

Kurt kissed her on the forehead. "You're supposed to be drinking this, not stealing stuff off my face."

She smiled and put the bottle in her mouth. She paused and pulled it out.

"Put that back in," Kurt teased.

She'd stick it in for a few seconds and pull it out again, laughing and kicking her feet.

"You need to drink that, Miss Rose," he kissed her on the forehead again.

"I told you she missed you two," Sebastian said, as he watched them playing. "You know, she only plays that game with you. She never tries to steal my nose."

* * *

Kurt sat down on the sofa after he put Aliza to bed. Sebastian came out a few minutes later and sat down as well. Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry about Rose."

"I heard you say you were sorry earlier in the room, but I didn't know what for. Why are you apologizing?"

"She's calling me 'Dada'."

"Oh. I figured that out the first morning you were gone. She kept pointing to your spot at the table and yelling 'Da-da-da-da' very annoyed when you didn't come out to eat with us. I'm not upset. You call yourself 'Daddy' around her all the time. I know you don't say it specifically to her, but she hears it all the time. You know she knows the names of a lot of things. So, she thinks your name is 'Daddy'. When I said you went bye-bye for a while, she wouldn't eat what I was trying to feed her. No amount of singing got her to eat what I had, not even the fruit. I gave up and gave her a sippy cup with her formula in it. Anyway, it's been a long four days."

Kurt nodded in agreement. "It has."

"I'm pretty sure that 'am-am-am-am' is 'Amaline'. She's been crawling around in the playard saying that as well. I know she knows Aliza's name, but if she's trying to say it, I haven't picked out anything that sounds remotely close, but it's a really hard name to say. I looked it up. No schoolwork leads me to research unusual topics." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and a couple of seconds later, Kurt's phone pinged. "I sent you the article."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks." Kurt tried to will himself into telling Sebastian how much he had missed him, but he couldn't quite muster up the nerve.

Sebastian shifted and turned so that he was sitting half criss-cross and facing Kurt. "I missed you as much as Rose did."

Kurt turned and looked at him, still trying to will himself to be brave. "I missed you too. I, um… There's something I need to tell you."

Sebastian's heart dropped. _Oh, God. He's figured out that I like him and he's going to try to let me down easy. He's going to say he's moving out or he's moving back in with his parents._

Kurt took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm in love with you."

Sebastian chuckled.

"I'll look for another place." He started to get up.

"Kurt, no. Stop." He reached for his hand. "Stay, please."

Kurt scooted back.

"I didn't laugh because of what you said. Well, I did, but only because I'm in love with you too and I was freaking out that you were going to say you were going to move back in with your parents or that you had figured it out and were going to tell me that you had found a new place to live and you just wanted to be friends."

Kurt let out the breath he had realized he was holding. "You're serious?"

He nodded. "I'm completely serious."

Kurt looked at their hands and wriggled a bit and interlaced their fingers. "I spent most of the time that I was at work thinking about the two of you and Aliza. I missed being home with the three of you." He ran his thumb along Sebastian's. He looked up again. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

A huge grin appeared on Sebastian's face, "Well, since I am love with you, I suppose that would be okay." He winked at Kurt.

"Just okay?"

"Probably amazing."

"So, is that a 'yes'?"

"Definitely yes." He squeezed Kurt's hand. "Why don't you take a shower and change and we can watch a movie?"

"Sounds good. You can pick while I'm gone." He squeezed Sebastian's hand before he let go.

* * *

Kurt could barely contain his enthusiasm and took the quickest shower possible since he had already showered after work. Ten minutes later, he was dressed in his pajama pants, warm socks, and a hoodie, which was exactly what Sebastian was wearing.

He turned the lights off in the dining room after he walked through. Sebastian had already turned the lights off in the living room, but Kurt could see his way to the sofa by the light of the TV screen. When Kurt got close enough, Sebastian stood up. He opened arms and Kurt stepped into them and wrapped his arms around Sebastian, who in turn did the same.

Sebastian said, "I've wanted to do this for so long."

"Me too."

"Your hair's not wet."

"I took a shower earlier when I got off."

"Makes sense. You're probably pretty grimy after working on cars all day."

"Mmm hmm." Kurt lifted his head back up off of Sebastian's shoulder. "Movie?"

"In a minute. Can I kiss you?"

Kurt nodded and leaned in. He tipped his chin up just slightly. Sebastian met him and pressed his lips to Kurt's. Kurt felt like a bucket of something warm had been poured inside him. He moaned quietly and kissed back – just chase kisses, but with fire in them. Sebastian felt like he had been set on fire. He groaned slightly when Kurt pulled back. He opened his eyes to find Kurt looking directly into his soul.

"Okay?" Kurt asked.

"So much more than okay. Definitely amazing."

Kurt smiled. "I agree." He leaned back in and resumed the kissing, which lasted for a minute or so, still chaste kisses but with so much heat in them. Kurt had to reign himself in. He had never been so turned on by a simple kiss. He pulled back again and leaned back into Sebastian's neck and hugged him again. "Let's sit down and watch the movie you picked."

"Okay." Sebastian reluctantly loosened his hold on Kurt. "Help me move this. After we go to visit my grandparents the next time, we can go to Ikea and get a real ottoman. With Rose up and moving around, she'll be trying to stand in the near future, I'd rather remove the sharp-cornered table before that."

They moved the blanket-covered coffee table to the corner of the sectional. Sebastian pulled the TV mount away from the wall and turned it towards the corner as well. He climbed into the corner and sat down. He patted the spot next to him. Kurt sat down next to him.

"You can sit closer."

Kurt didn't move. "I'll squish you."

"Unlikely." He raised his arm and Kurt scooted closer. Sebastian let his arm down around Kurt's shoulders. He pressed play. _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ started.

Kurt chuckled, "Is this your idea of a romantic movie?"

"I thought watching a movie we've both seen a bunch of times would be romantic. That way you won't miss anything when I kiss you during the movie. Plus, Sally and Jack get together, so it _is_ romantic."

"You make a good point. I take back what I said about it not being romantic." He kissed Sebastian on the cheek. He leaned in and got comfortable. When Jack started wandering through the cemetery, Kurt began to sing along softly. He was about halfway through the song before he realized what he was doing. "Sorry." He quit singing.

Sebastian pressed pause. "You weren't bothering me. No need to apologize."

"Okay. I've never watched this with anyone, so it just slipped out. I can be quiet. I know it gets on people's nerves."

"You weren't getting on my nerves. I've heard you sing along with videos before, plenty of times."

"That was with the girls."

"It didn't bother me then, and it's not bothering me now. I didn't know you could sing that low though."

"Oh. I have a 3-octave range."

"You're really good at sound creepy like Jack. That surprised me more than you singing along."

"I'll show you the video of me playing Riff Raff sometime. One day when the girls are bigger, we can all dress up as something scary for Halloween instead of teddy bears."

Sebastian swooned. _When the girls are bigger._ "I'm not sure I can pull off scary. I've never really tried."

"We'll see. I'm pretty good with make up. I do a good Ursula impression as well." He sang a few lines.

_Those poor unfortunate souls, in pain, in need.  
This one longs to be thinner.  
That one wants to get the girl.  
And do I help them?  
Yes, indeed!_

Sebastian pretended to shiver. "Very creepy. I'm sure the girls will love it when they get big enough to watch _The Little Mermaid_."

Kurt heart skipped a beat when he realized what Sebastian had implied and that he was smiling about it. He overcame the nervousness he was still feeling and reached out and gently put his hand on Sebastian's jaw. He guided Sebastian to turn towards him and he kissed him. Sebastian responded and kissed him back. The same wave of warmth flowed through Kurt. _I could totally get used to this. Snuggles and kisses_.

"When I wrote on Rose's baby calendar today, I realized that you moved in two and a half months ago."

"During which, I found out that you are a really great housemate. Let's just talk." He reached down the sofa to where the two throw pillows were and he grabbed them. He handed one to Sebastian. "Scoot down and lie on your side." Kurt put the second pillow down and lay down facing Sebastian. He leaned forward and kissed him again gently before he put his head down on the pillow.

"I was really glad when you agreed to stay. Having you here just felt right, even before I was ready to admit how much I liked you. I needed some time to process everything. And having you here actually made that a lot easier. By then, you were spending about half of your evenings here already. When you moved in, I got to see more of you, not just time-wise, but more of who you are. It's easy to be someone you're not when other people are around, especially if it's just for short periods of time. But when I saw you continue to be who you had been after you moved in, I fell hard and fast, which surprised me since it's never happened before. You know I've never had a boyfriend. I told you that."

"And we've talked about how much I learned about myself from what I went through. My heart has healed though. You're not a rebound in any way. At this point, all of that is ancient history to me. It ended over a year ago. It was a high school romance that didn't survive the reality of adult life. It happens a lot. I guess if there's something you want to ask about that, now's the time because I'd really rather just leave the past in the past. It has no bearing on my choices now, other than helping me to hone my selection process." He reached out and put his hand on Sebastian's upper arm and squeezed just slightly. He slid his hand the rest of the way down his arm and took his hand and brought it up between them and interlaced their fingers. "So, questions?"

"A couple. I know you went back to stay at your parents so you could work. I'm assuming that you need the money you were going to make."

"Yeah – to pay Amaline."

"I know the topic of money is a touchy one for most people, but will you please let me cover that? It's a purely selfish request anyway. I just want you and Aliza here with us for winter break. Maybe you could consider it my Christmas gift to the two of you?"

"That's sweet, but still way beyond a reasonable Christmas gift budget."

"Kurt, I love you and Aliza and I admit that I was scared to tell you because I was afraid of losing the two of you. I wanted this, but I wanted your friendship too much to say anything. I confess that I lay in bed the night before you were leaving really upset that you were going. When you texted earlier tonight and said you were coming home, I was sad that things weren't going well for you, but I was really glad you were coming back."

"Me too – about both of those." Kurt brought Sebastian's hand closer and kissed his knuckles.

"I want you to hear me out, okay?"

Kurt nodded.

"I had gotten into Columbia, which, as I said, is where my dad went to school. He and my mom had enough money pay for me to get my degree there. The cost difference between going here and there is significant. So, even if I keep back the money to do my Master's at Columbia, I will still have a lot left over. I'm not telling you this to flaunt anything. I just want you to know that it's not going to be a burden to pay Amaline to watch Aliza."

Kurt thought about what Sebastian had said.

"Before you decide, I want to make sure you know that the money for the utilities, insurance, food, and paying Amaline for caring for Rose are not coming out of that money. Please say yes, even if you insist on paying me back at some point in the future after you've gotten your first job."

"Okay. You've convinced me, but only because I don't want to leave any more than you want me to. I'll work on finding a job as the semester ends so that I can work here in Dublin over the summer."

"So, you'll stay?"

"If at all possible. I did agree to cover the guys' vacations, but my dad may be willing to just run the shop a man short rather than deal with a crying baby while he's home all day. He's struggling as well. He loved Finn, but it's more than that. It's like he lost Carole as well. She's not herself. I told him that he should try to get her some help. The stress level there is very high. Obviously, Aliza can feel it too. If I agree to this, to you paying Amaline for caring for Aliza too, it can only be this. I don't want it to somehow shift the balance we have. I don't want to suddenly be on the receiving end of you offering to pay for me when we go out or when we order in. I can and I have budgeted. The childcare expense was why I needed to work. I started paying for it in October when I had budgeted to start paying in January. I can still afford to do what we've been doing."

"I get that. I won't patronize you. I haven't been so far, and I don't intend to start. I really just want you two here with the two of us. You worked hard to earn the money you have. I've never worked a regular job. I've tutored people before, but that's not quite the same because I did it to pad my college applications. Me paying Amaline for both girls will not change how I've been treating you."

"Okay."

"Really? You have to be sure that you can keep the balance we've had knowing that I'm covering the cost. I don't want you to begin to treat me differently either."

"I won't."

"Do you have any questions for me?"

"I guess just whether or not you want people to know. Are you going to tell your grandparents? Should I not tell my parents?"

"I'm not embarrassed or ashamed. Are you?"

"Not at all."

Sebastian scooted a little closer and kissed Kurt. "I wasn't planning on hiding it. I know that traditional dating is complicated by the fact that we have the girls, but I think if we work at it, we can still carve out time for just the two of us, like right now. And with Amaline here day until 2:00 on weekdays, I think we can find at least an hour or two for a daytime date, even just meeting up on campus to eat lunch together."

"We already do that."

"I know. We can keep doing it. I don't see anything big to change about our relationship. We already work together really well. We don't fight. You're a bit harsh on yourself sometimes, but I can be tough on myself as well, so I understand that tendency. But we've been living together successfully for two and a half months already. The love has already been there, unspoken, but visible, so we just keep doing what we're doing, but with hugs and kisses and snuggles."

"Is that all you want?" Kurt kissed Sebastian's knuckles again.

"What do you mean?" He stopped to think for a few seconds. "Are you asking me if I want to have sex?"

Kurt nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I do when we're both ready for that. We've never talked about our first times or sexual history, but we can if you want. I'll just tell you that mine wasn't optimal. It was when I was in Paris. I was 15. It was consensual. But with us I want … not that. I think you're really sexy and I absolutely find you attractive, if that's what you're wondering."

Kurt nodded.

Sebastian let go of Kurt's hand and reached over and put his hand on the side of Kurt's face. "I think you're gorgeous. And anything negative I said two years ago was just flatly untrue. I know you don't want me to apologize anymore, so I won't." He ran his thumb across Kurt's lips. "You have no idea how many times I fought myself to keep from taking your hand when we were reading to the girls. Or how many times I wished you'd kiss me when you'd kiss Rose on the forehead when I was holding her." He slid his hand behind Kurt's neck and moved closer and kissed him. "You're really beautiful on the inside and out and I love you."

They spent several minutes kissing, not pushing each other, just enjoying their leisurely pace.

After they pulled back to take a breath, Kurt pressed in one last time with a soft kiss. "I love you too." He took a deep breath to steel himself to say what he wanted to say. "My first time was awkward because it didn't happen. I couldn't go through with it. He and I hadn't done anything besides barely more than kiss chastely when you met him. The night he got drunk at Scandals, he wanted to have sex in the back of his car. I refused." He paused.

"That's why you brought him back in and made him drink two bottles of water. You had me follow you to his house, and then drive you home."

"He walked off angry. He claimed he was going to walk home, obviously not thinking about the fact that _he_ drove _me_ to Scandals in _his_ car. I had to think of something. I needed to get home before midnight. It was a school night for us. Anyway, the next night I told him I wanted to go to his house. I psyched myself up to the best of my ability. I tried to give him what he wanted, but I couldn't bring myself to go through with it. We just lay in his bed kissing, not making it past taking our shirts off down to our undershirts. Over the winter and spring, he seemed to lose interest. He said he was pulling away to practice what it would be like when I was gone. Anyway, I met this guy at the music store in the spring and he asked for my number. He started sending me cheesy, flirty texts. Blaine saw and publicly accused me of cheating on him. He sang a very angry version of 'It's Not Right, But it's Okay' to me in Glee. I responded by singing 'I Have Nothing'. I decided to prove to him that I only loved him and that the other guy wasn't on my radar as anything more than a potential friend in New York City. I agreed to block him and never text him again."

"That was harsh considering how much time he spent texting me."

"I pointed that out, but he didn't see the parallels. I didn't want to lose him. I did a better job of convincing myself, but still couldn't bring myself to go all the way. That happened a little over a month later, after Senior Prom. I still wasn't ready, but I went through with it anyway. We had been together over a year."

"As I said, I was 15. I mentioned worming my way into the popular crowd by pretending to be a cool American. I got a fake ID. I started hanging out in dance clubs with them a couple of nights a week. I caught the attention of a guy who was 20. He flirted, bought me a drink – just one, and we danced. Eventually, after a week or two, we kissed. He kept pursuing me, and wooing me in a way, by paying so much attention to me when I was at the club. He told me that he only went to the club two nights a week and I started going on those same two nights. I eventually became his go-to hookup on the nights we went clubbing there. He lived nearby and we went to his place after we danced for a while. He was a good host and offered me non-alcoholic drinks and food. It was completely consensual. I agreed, but I wasn't ready. He was experienced and he lived up to his claim of 'making it good for me' in that he never hurt me and he took the time to make it enjoyable for me. He wanted to get off several times on the nights I was there, so that's what we did. It was all physical. Afterwards, he'd let me shower and we'd go back to the club and dance some more. I'd leave with the guys from school. This went on for about seven months. The turning point was when I went to a different club a couple of blocks from the first one on a different day of the week and I saw him with another guy my age that I recognized from lacrosse. I had turned 16 by then. I think until I actually saw him with someone else, I just sort of pushed that possibility out of my mind and focused on the attention he paid to me when I was there. He was really good at making me feel like I was important to him and I never considered that he might meet up with other guys on different nights at other clubs. I was young and naïve. I thought he was really into me, despite the hookup aspect of the whole situation. It felt like dating in a way because we had set days we met up and he was really decent. He made it so that I'd want to come back. Afterwards, I realized that he was basically just picking out barely legal teens, and for the cost of one drink, he was basically buying our services for the evening. I came away from the whole thing pretty hurt."

"He was basically using you, the other guy, and who knows who else like high-end escorts without the high price for him."

"Pretty much. He had obviously perfected the game. He got laid multiple times every evening he went clubbing all for the cost of a lightweight drink of some sort, just enough to loosen us up and take the edge off. But what was I going to do about it? Anyone under 18 involved with him would have gotten in trouble for the fake IDs and underage drinking. The age of consent in France is 15 and we were the ones using fake IDs to get into the clubs. He wouldn't have gotten in any trouble at all. Since we were in the clubs, he could say that he thought we were old enough to drink, meaning that we were definitely old enough to consent to sex."

"He had his bases covered."

"And we were young and naïve, which is good reason why there are legal drinking ages. He could have been running the same thing with four other teens besides the one I saw. For all I know, he was 25 and just looked young and lied. There's no way to know, but now being close to 20, the idea of having sex with a 15-year-old isn't the least bit appealing. Anyway, now you know. I knew that love is real. I had seen it in both sets of grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my own parents. I was also a 15-year-old with a fake ID, who was being groomed by a hot 20-something guy who knew how to convince me that he was really into me. Like I said, I was naïve and I just didn't see what was going on for a long time. If I hadn't gone to that other club that night, who knows how long it would have continued before I figured it out."

"Probably until you got old enough to catch on or until you saw him somewhere else at some later point in time. He was a predator. Perhaps, a physically kind and gentle one, but he preyed on barely-legal teens."

"So, now you know. You're the first person I've ever told."

"Me too. Everyone at school assumed that we had started having sex long before we did, and they made inaccurate assumptions about how things went when we finally did. But since we weren't even having sex at the time, I just ignored them and gave them a mind-your-own-business ice glare."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why were you so hesitant?"

"When my dad gave me 'The Talk', he told me that having sex would affect my heart and my self-esteem. He told me that when I was ready it should be a meaningful way of connecting with someone and that I should remember that I matter. When Blaine was trying to coerce me in the back of his car, I didn't feel like I mattered at all. I said 'no' like ten times. I had to keep pushing his hands off of me and when I finally got loose, he took offense to me being upset about it. It didn't feel like a way of meaningfully connecting. It felt like my opinion didn't matter."

"It didn't."

"I know that people counted from when we started dating in March, so it was around seven months at that point. But we only dated for a couple of weeks before I went back to McKinley and we only saw each other on a few weekends until school got out. And then he worked at Six Flags all summer. So a couple of weeks, plus a few weekend dates and then he was gone for three months. We had been back attending the same school for about two months. And I had lost some of my trust in him when he read for Tony."

"I can understand that."

"In the end, he threw what we had away for a quick fuck, which isn't really the topic at hand. I have one last one for you, but you can ask me anything first."

"Did you blame me for what happened that night?"

"I only saw you give him the one beer. If he got more from you I didn't see it. He was either acting more drunk that he was or he got more alcohol at some point. I blamed you for existing and making things harder for me, but I didn't blame you for his actions. He knew he didn't handle alcohol well. He drove us there. He knew not to get drunk. He chose to anyway. That's on him, not you."

"Just so you know, I did _not_ give him anymore to drink that night. I guess I have one last question. Does knowing what I told you change your mind about us?"

"Not at all. I guess I just have one more for you. Given what you told me, have you been tested for STDs?"

"Yes. The guys I hung around with took me the first time after I 'scored'. I started going monthly after that. I went for three more months after I quit going to the club. I haven't been with anyone else, but I'll go again if you want me to. I don't mind."

"I went after Blaine told me, just in case it hadn't been his first time cheating on me. I didn't want to risk it. But I haven't been since then. We can go together if you want."

"We can go one day this next week."

"Sure." He sighed. "What you told me makes me dislike Blaine a lot. I can understand why what I did and said hurt you in ways I had never considered at the time. I know that you've forgiven me. I can't say that I understand how you can, but I'm really glad that you have. My life is so much better with you in it."

"Who knew you could be so sappy?" Kurt leaned forward and kissed him. "I love you. Snarky or sappy. You're funny and sweet and generous."

"And you're sexy, hilarious at times, and kinder than most people deserve. And I love you too."

Before they had time to talk about anything else, they heard one of the girls wake up and start to fuss. Before he moved so they could get up, Kurt leaned in and quickly kissed Sebastian once more.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning when Rose woke up and Kurt went in the room to get her, she squealed with delight. She immediately threw her hands up for him to pick her up. After he changed her, he carried her into the table and put her in her high chair. By then, Aliza was awake. He repeated the process and put Aliza in her chair next to Rose.

"Why-yah! Da-da! Why-ya! Da-da!" Rose started to smack her hands on her high chair tray.

"I think you have your answer," Kurt said. "'Why-ya' is Aliza."

Sebastian turned the heat down on the eggs he was cooking and came over to the table. He kissed Aliza on the cheek and put her bottle on her tray. He leaned over and kissed Rose on the cheek. "Yes, I agree. It's great to have Aliza and Daddy back home. I'm happy too."

She clapped. "Why-ya! Da-da!"

Kurt got up to grab a couple of jars of baby food. He opened the spinach first. He started to sing and Rose opened her mouth and ate the whole jar. He fed her bananas afterwards.

When he went over to the sink to remove the label and rinse the containers, Sebastian tickled him. "Show off," he teased.

Kurt turned and kissed him on the lips. "I'll teach you how to do the song right. You're good at choreography. You'll catch on fast, I'm sure."

Sebastian rolled his eyes and very quietly said, "Smart ass."

Kurt leaned in and spoke directly into Sebastian's ear. "I think you meant sexy ass."

"That too." He grabbed Kurt's waist and turned him to face him and kissed him.

Rose started clapping.

"We have an audience," Sebastian said.

Kurt shook his head, tipped his chin up, and feigned haughtiness. "No, my dear, we have a fan."

"Da-da. Pa-pa."

"I stand corrected." He kissed Kurt again and turned back to stove and plated the omelettes he had made for them.

Kurt carried them to the table while Sebastian washed the pan quickly. They sat down and ate together while the girls drank their formula.

"I think we need to go shopping," Kurt said. "Surely there's some kind of baby-friendly decorations we could get."

"And if not, we can just get some poinsettias for the table."

"We can look at Target. They have nice decorations usually."

"Sure. Let's get them dressed up and take them out. We could stop by my grandparents and drop off a poinsettia. My grandma loves them and it won't matter if she already has one or ten, she'll like one more. We can get the ottoman too."

"Lunch at Ikea?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Mmm, it smells good in here. I'm glad you thought to stick that stuff in the Crock-Pot before we left," Sebastian said. "Now, we can focus on assembling this."

Kurt had the back end of the ottoman box. "In here or the living room?"

"Here against the door for now because we have to go grab the coffee table and pull it out to make room for this."

They put the girls in the playard and got started. They stopped when Rose got fussy. They sat down, fed the girls, and ate. When they finished, they put some baby music on and danced around with the girls and sang for a little while. They put them back in the playard and finished the ottoman assembly in time for story time.

After they put the girls down to sleep, Kurt said, "Why don't you shower first? I need to call my dad."

* * *

Kurt texted Burt asking him to call when he had a chance. He called right back.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hey. So…"

"Yeah. So, I had a talk with Carole. She was upset that you left, but she was upset when you were here – just in a different way. You were right. She thought you would cave under the pressure of being a single parent and that you'd move back in with us and she'd get to have Aliza here all the time. She envisioned this halfway point between raising her herself and you raising her on your own – like you said you thought Finn would have done."

"Okay. So where does that leave us? Honestly, I want to stay here at home. This is my home now. I know it probably seems weird to you, but I'm where I want to be. Aliza is happy. I'm happy. Sebastian is willing to let me repay him later for Amaline watching Aliza this next semester as long as you can deal with running the shop short-handed for the next few weeks. I am sorry about that, but back when I agreed to it, things were fine with Carole watching her and I didn't foresee Carole being so upset by being around her. Aliza's picking up on that stress and she can't relax."

"I get it. I'll work part-time over the holiday to ease the workload at the shop. Will you be coming back for Christmas?"

"Carole's obviously not feeling like celebrating. Nothing's been decorated. Why don't you figure out what she wants and let me know? You could come here for a meal again."

"I'll see what I can figure out."

"Sorry you're stuck in the middle. I had no intention of leaving you short-handed."

"I know you didn't. I just wish I understood why you did this. You've been hell-bent on getting out of Ohio and performing since the first time your mom took you to a live show and you learned how movies were made. Why would you take on raising a baby?"

"If I had some amazing, definitive answer, I would give it to you, but I don't. What I can tell you is that I love her so much. I don't see her as anything but my daughter. It's just like with a regular adoption I would imagine. She's mine. The only thing that ever concerns me is how other kids will treat her for not having a mother and for having a gay father. I like being her dad. I just hope one day you'll love her too. Just because she doesn't have my DNA doesn't make her any less my daughter."

"I'm sorry, Kurt."

"You're under too much stress. I'm not angry with you."

"You're too generous towards me sometimes, though. I'm going to give you the money to pay for the nanny. I said I would cover a certain amount of your expenses, but when you found a way to cut them, I pulled my support. That was wrong of me. It's not like we weren't footing the cost of the gas for Carole to drive down there. And there were weeks when she just gave one of her shifts to someone else and took the loss in pay. I don't want you to feel bad about that. She made an agreement to watch her, so she kept it. Paying for Aliza's nanny isn't any more than paying for an apartment for you would have been. I'll deposit the money in your account at the beginning of each month so you can pay her."

"You're serious?"

"I am. I shouldn't have made it harder on you."

"So, is this just a one-semester arrangement or will you continue to pay Amaline?"

Burt paused. "You're making this sound a lot more long-term than I was thinking about actually."

"Oh, well, we haven't gotten to the second reason I wanted to talk to you."

"Which is?"

"I'm in love with Sebastian. I told him so when I got home last night. He's my boyfriend now."

"I see." He was obviously miffed.

"What's that tone supposed to mean?"

"It means the same thing that I said a few minutes ago. I just never imagined you settling down and playing house at 19."

"I'm not PLAYING house. I've been 20 for three months and I'm living with my boyfriend and our two daughters. This isn't a game. I love him and he loves me."

"I get it. I'm just not ready for it."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's a permanent situation, so please do what you need to in order to get yourself READY for it."

Burt sighed. "I don't appreciate the snide tone of voice, but I get that I'm in the wrong. I'll work on it. Maybe I should go with Carole to see someone."

"When you choose someone, make sure you get an iron-clad confidentiality statement signed by whoever you two see. I don't want to find your life details and mine on the front of some gossip rag trying to tarnish your political career."

"That's true. I'll see what I can find. You're right though about her not going to see just anyone. I think that's a big part of the problem. Keeping the fact that Aliza is Finn's daughter a secret is hurting her the most. She envisioned having a grandchild so much differently than this. It's because her family doesn't accept you. If they did, she could take Aliza to the family events and show her off like her cousins have gotten to do with their grandkids. She had just never considered how this would play out. If Finn was still around, she would have had to deal with the same thing once you had a kid of your own. Finn's kids would have been welcomed and yours would have been shunned. Like you said, she's just never really dealt with the prejudice first-hand. You were at Dalton by the time they moved in. You weren't sharing how bad things were with me before that. I didn't have anything to tell her until things blew up big. She's not been around to see much of it other than that. The punks stopped the vandalism when we moved to the new house. Maybe they quit because Finn lived with us. Who knows? Plus, she didn't realize until last Christmas how a good portion of her family was going to react. That first Christmas, we just didn't participate in her family's stuff because were busy packing up both of our places and moving into the new house. She just told them ahead of time that she wouldn't make it to anything because she was using her days off to pack and move. It wasn't until last Christmas when some of them suggested that just she and Finn should come to their family Christmas gathering that she realized they were going to be like that. I went to New York to see you and she and Finn went to spend time with them. So, this is completely new to her. There's just a lot to deal with. But I know without a doubt that she loves you and she loves Aliza. I'll talk to her some more and let you know about Christmas."

"I would prefer to bring Sebastian and Rose if we visit at some point. They're part of my family now too. I know this all seems sudden to you because you're really busy all the time. You didn't see us together until Thanksgiving. By then, I had already been living here for two months and I spent half my time here the month before that. I feel comfortable with him in a way that I've only ever felt around Sam. I'm asking you to do some soul searching. Please, find a place in your heart for the three people I love."

"When you put it that way, I'd be a jackass not to. I need to get over myself. I've struggled with some anger issues since the chemotherapy. I really will find someone reputable and trustworthy to go see. I'll let you know about Christmas. I'm glad you're happy, Kurt. That's all I've ever wanted for you."

"I know, Dad. I really do know that. And I haven't given up my dream. Sebastian still wants to go to Columbia. I still want to go to New York. Just not yet. Aliza needs to be old enough to go to school. I can't afford childcare and rent in New York City while I'm in school."

"Okay, bud. I'm going to go. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad."

* * *

When Kurt looked out his door, he saw that the bathroom door was open. He went ahead and showered. When he finished, he went to look for Sebastian and found him in the living room reading a book. He looked up when Kurt came through the dining area. He smiled and patted the sofa. Kurt sat down next to him and put his feet up next to Sebastian's on the new ottoman. He sat quietly, letting Sebastian continue to read. A few minutes later, Sebastian moved his bookmark, closed the book, and put it to the other side.

"Hey, handsome."

Kurt leaned towards him and kissed him on the temple. "Good book?"

"So far."

"I finished the one I picked up at the library before I went to my parents'. I went in my room and read when Aliza went down at 9 until her midnight feeding."

Sebastian reached for his hand. "I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too. My dad and I talked quite a bit. I was right in my guess as to what the actual issues are. He's going to get them in to see someone for some counseling. I told him about us."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I got him to answer a few things. I hope he actually thinks about what I said. He's going to talk to Carole about either us going there for some sort of Christmas something or whether they would want to come here for a Christmas meal. He's going to let me know. What traditions does your family have?"

"Well, we went to my grandparents' on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents. They were always just small fun gifts. You know, the kind of gift where someone just thought of you when they saw it. I got things like funny socks or a funny t-shirt. I got a couple of different superhero items. Sometimes, I'd get a small Lego set. I remember getting a 500-piece puzzle once when I was young enough to feel like it was a big deal. We didn't make lists or spend much money. And I'd always get a new book. They'd sit around and talk about whatever while I'd play with what I'd gotten. At some point, I'd curl up in the big chair in the living room and read my new book. There was no fuss or stress. My grandparents just had the fire going and some instrumental Christmas music playing while the four of them sat around. They'd usually end up playing games too. When I got older, I joined in on that. They go out to see my uncle and his family for New Year's. My uncle flies them out there for a week."

"It sounds really nice, actually. And it's nice that they get to see your uncle and his family too."

"So, you'll come with us, right?"

"Yes."

Sebastian squeezed his hand. "On Christmas Day, we stayed home. My mom made a big brunch at lunchtime. I started getting Lego sets when I was four I think. They bought me a really complicated set every year. Of course, complicated at four is different than complicated at 18, but it would take hours, sometimes all day, to put it together. I told you I was a nerd."

"I'm not the least bit bothered by that. Go on."

"We'd watch movies while I'd build whatever it was that I got. That's it really. My parents snuggled up like we are now, and we just spent the day together. There was nothing complicated or stressful."

"Sounds nice. Ours was pretty similar except that I would get some kind of craft or art thing and I'd spend all day doing it. I also helped my mom make our brunch. After she died, I did my best to make a brunch on my own, but it took a few years before it came anywhere near what she made." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The last time I told anyone this, it went really badly."

"What?"

"I don't believe in God. I consider myself agnostic because atheism seems to be really fervent in its assertion that there is no God. I'm very much apathetic about the whole thing. I have conflicting views about organized religion, so having the zeal to assert that I am right makes me feel too much like a religious person."

"Okay, so you're agnostic. Why did that upset someone?"

"Not just someone – pretty much everyone in Glee Club. I think that set me apart from everyone else more than my clothing or homosexuality had at that point. They were offended, really offended, that I didn't believe in God."

"Oh, well it doesn't bother me. I think I'm probably culturally Christian just because my parents continued to follow traditions that their parents had. But as far as personal religious beliefs go, I have none. I've never been to church. I've never done more than ten minutes of research into why there are many different kinds of churches. Once I saw that it was over sometimes very minute differences of opinion on the interpretation of a text that's ancient, I lost interest. I think I just lumped it into a 'sorting hat' mentality. Each house, or denomination in this case, thinks it's the best and goes about boasting about how it is better than the others or trying to prove the others wrong – neither of which appeals to me, so I just dropped it."

"Since neither of us believe in the religious aspect of the holiday, what about continuing the brunch and activity type gift tradition with you and the girls, but doing it on New Year's Day? That would prevent the difficulty of trying to have our own traditions while still being open to how my parents want to celebrate and still going to your grandparents' the night before Christmas."

"So, my grandparents' on Christmas Eve, whatever your parents want on Christmas Day? And then a we make a big brunch, play with the girls, watch movies, and just be together on New Year's Day – just the four of us?"

"Is that okay with you? I know you were looking for a small tree this afternoon when the girls got fussy and we decided to call it a day, but we could put some garland up along the top of the windows in here and hang any sentimental ornaments up on it. They'd be safe from small hands for a long time that way. I'd like to decorate in small ways, but just for the winter if that wouldn't bother you. Like candelabras in the windowsills and we could get up on a ladder and put white icicle lights on the high windows above the cabinets in the kitchen. It gets dark so early in the winter, the white lights in the rooms would help keep things cheery."

"That works for me."

"I'm morally opposed to Santa and the Elf on the Shelf. I would never tell Aliza that someone is watching her all the time. That is just creepy and borderline abusive to me. It's one thing to see shows where Santa delivers toys to everyone or to good kids. We can talk to them about it before we let them watch them, but I can't tell her that some person she doesn't know gets to decide whether she's been 'good enough' to deserve a gift."

"I hadn't gotten to the point of thinking about that. I don't honestly remember my parents making a big deal out of Santa. I do distinctly remember being told that other people's beliefs should never be made fun of, and if I had a different opinion, I should keep it to myself. And if I had questions, I should ask my parents, not someone else."

"That seems like a good thing to pass on when they're getting ready to start school."

"Unless you're opposed, whenever we go to your parents', we can bring the rest of your stuff here. This is your home too now. You can bring your books, your sewing stuff, and all of your clothes here."

"I'll need to get some boxes. We'll need to take both CRVs or we could take the truck and my CRV. With the girls and their stuff, we won't have room for anything else with just one vehicle. And I will need my sewing stuff for next semester since I'm taking a costuming class."

"Then that's settled. Amaline is still coming this week. We could go with one vehicle while she's here and not have to struggle with the girls."

"That will work." Kurt pulled Sebastian's hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles. "Where are all of the Legos?"

Sebastian chuckled. "Under my bed. The girls can have them when they get big enough not to put them in their mouths. I even have the instruction booklets."

"My dad got me a lot of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. I had a really cool racetrack set and extra pieces to go to it. I used to make really cool layouts in the basement, but I don't have any of them anymore. I kept a few of the cars, but I gave all of the other stuff to one of the guys that works in my dad's shop to give to his boys two Christmases ago when we moved to the new house. Maybe we can put one of the Lego sets together on New Year's. The girls can watch and play in their highchairs or the playard. And in a few years, we can start them with your easy ones and let them build too."

"Sure. I got a really cool one last year. We'll buy one for ourselves this year if you want."

"I've never built much with them. I just had a few small bucket sets. No specialty pieces. We can just build something you already have."

"You can look through them one day while the girls are napping."

"Okay. Do you want to read more? I can read one of your books."

"Sure. Just go in my room and pick a book if you want. Or we can listen to music and snuggle."

Kurt got up. "I'll go pick a book. We can do all three if you pick something instrumental while I'm gone."

* * *

An hour later, they both still reading.

Kurt broke the silence. "We got talking about holidays, and I forgot to tell you that my dad is going to pay Amaline."

"That's a surprise."

"It was. I honestly think your offer to loan me the money is what made him think about his stance. When he realized that you were willing to do something he hadn't considered doing, I think he felt bad. I told him that I wanted you and Rose included for Christmas because you're my family too."

"You told him that?"

"I did. I love you and Rose. I told him that this is my home and I want to be here because I'm comfortable here."

Sebastian's eyes lit up when he heard Kurt speak so confidently.

"I'm actually still kind of tired. Would you mind if we lie down and snuggle and listen to the music in the dark? The monitor is right there. We can hear them when they wake up."

A few minutes later, they were snuggled up together facing each, their legs covered with the throw.

Kurt reached out towards Sebastian, but paused. "Can I touch your face?"

"Yeah."

Kurt traced around his whole face, starting at his forehead and moving counterclockwise with his thumb. When he got to his chin, he moved his thumb up and ran it across Sebastian's lips. He moved from there to gently tracing his eyebrows, his eyelids, and down the slope of his nose. He moved back to his chin and finished the loop around his face. "How about your hair?"

"Yes, please."

He ran his hand through the short hair right above Sebastian's ear. "I'm sorry I insulted your hair. It's actually very nice. I was just being a bitch to you because I felt threatened."

"You already apologized. I forgave you. That feels really good. I like it a lot. We stopped hurting each other ages ago. Just leave it in the past, okay? I like where we are right now – here in our home where you are spoiling me by touching me very attentively. It's really relaxing while simultaneously arousing."

Kurt was emboldened by Sebastian's words and he moved his hand up towards the top of Sebastian's scalp and began to massage slightly as he moved his hand towards the back of head, which caused Sebastian to moan.

"Oh, that feels amazing. I had no idea how much I would like that."

"I didn't know how much I would like playing with someone's hair." Kurt scooted forward just enough that he could kiss Sebastian comfortably while continuing to play with his hair. Sebastian responded by wrapping his arm around Kurt's back keeping him close and pressing into the kiss. "You can touch me too, if you want."

"I do want to. Trust me." He pressed his forehead to Kurt's. "But I have something else to tell you."

"Okay." He slipped his hand down to Sebastian's shoulder.

"Well, I was going to tell you how I felt when you came back at the end of break. I missed you so much, but I didn't want to be the cause of you backing out on your word to your dad. I did some research and found a company that helps people deal with the issues involved in cleaning out the homes of deceased relatives. They send a grief counselor and a couple of people to do the actual sorting. The stuff I don't want to keep will be removed and sold at an auction in town. And I hired a contractor to do some painting and other work this next week. It was all going to be done when you got back, and I was going to ask you to be my boyfriend then, but you came back and you asked me first. When you came back, I was going to have us go shopping together and pick stuff out for the room. The girls are getting bigger and I thought we could leave them in the room together to sleep, but we can turn my room into a playroom for them since they're going to outgrow being kept in the playard at some point. The contractor is going to build a Murphy bed for the room you're in. That way we can fit my drawing table and desk in there with your desk and your art and sewing stuff and still be able to use the room as a guest room, if we need to."

"Oh, wow. You've been doing a lot of planning."

Sebastian kissed him. "I have. It was going to be a surprise, but I wanted to wait to do the shopping with you. But since you're home early we can do it sooner. The company is going to be here tomorrow morning to start the project."

"Okay."

"I can show you the paint color I chose and if you don't like it, I can call first thing in the morning before they mix it up and we can change it."

"What did you pick?"

"It's called Studio Mauve. It's this color that was popular in the 1920s."

"That's a really nice color. It goes with black, charcoal, deep brown, crimson, and a lot of things besides orange or red, which don't really strike me as bedroom colors anyway."

"So, you're familiar with it obviously. The room has a whole wall of built-in shelving. It runs behind the closet in here. You probably never thought about it, but the coat closet isn't as deep as the half-bath and the walk-in pantry at the end of it, but the wall is flat on this side. The space behind the coat closet is the built-in shelving in the bedroom. I was thinking about it today. I'm going to have the contractor bevel the edges and round the corners on the wood table top on the coffee table. We can put it some thin rubber grip feet on the bottom and put it on the floor in the playroom. Once they're older, we can put some short legs on it and they can sit up to it on the floor and build stuff on it and play games."

"The contractor should be able to just shorten the legs that are on it now and we can just keep them until later and put them back on."

"An even better idea. Are you okay with all of this? I don't want to freak you out and I don't know…"

"I'm not freaked out. I'm not going anywhere." He kissed Sebastian. "I don't know how to explain it. My dad wanted me to explain it, but I couldn't. I know that a lot of things went wrong for me to end up with Aliza and things went wrong for you to end up with Rose. But this between us, it's like this thing I never knew I wanted, but now that I have it, I never want to let it go. I love all three of you. I'm not deluded into thinking that everything will be smooth sailing. We have two babies we have to potty train and teach everything else."

Sebastian play groaned. "Potty training, ugh. I get what you're saying though. I would easily say that I want my parents to be alive because I miss them terribly. But I would also still want this somehow, with you. I think as long as we keep communicating and talking all the time like we do that we'll be fine. I'm not expecting you to be perfect or me to be perfect, even though that second part is harder for me."

"I think we have the same innate sense of requiring more of ourselves than we do of other people. And I can't blame it on my dad's parenting skills or anything. He wasn't overly demanding in a way that caused me to have some warped sense of needing to be perfect for him to love me. It wasn't like that at all. I've just always been really hard on myself."

"I'll play armchair psychiatrist, or I guess sofa psychiatrist…"

Kurt snickered.

"I'd wager that it has to do with control. You're a very organized, detail-oriented, scheduled person. I think that may come from how out-of-control other parts of your life were. Your mom died when you were really too young to understand. And when we've talked before you said you picked up the slack around the house. I think you could control yourself and your home environment when you couldn't control how other people treated you and it just sort of became part of you. You set really high standards for yourself, but with everything that went on you were really beaten down and I think you let Blaine in and dropped your guard. You started being what he wanted to in order to keep him. At least that's what I got from our conversations. I don't want you to ever do that with me. If we disagree, we can talk about it. We can make pros and cons lists. We can try things both ways and actually see what works best. I don't want you to ever feel like you have to give in or give up something important to you in order for me to love you. If you ever feel like I'm slipping away, just tell me. I may get caught up in a project and not realize how much time I'm spending on it, but I never want you to feel like you're not doing enough to keep me. You are enough."

"You'll do the same, right? You'll tell me?" Kurt tried, but failed to keep himself from crying.

"Of course."

"I didn't wan to talk about him anymore, but I think I need to share this so you understand my fear better."

"Okay."

"I had been in New York for two weeks when he came to see me two weeks earlier than his original flight had been booked. He confessed, but only after I pressed him to tell me why he was being so moody and emotional. He told me that he needed me and I wasn't there. He blamed me and I accepted the blame. It took me a long time to recover from that because I had let everyone else's happiness supersede my own. I accepted the fact that I was barely tolerable, that I was lucky to have any friends at all, and that Blaine was amazing. It wasn't until I started to see a counselor at NYADA that I regained any sense of self-worth. Beating Rachel at Midnight Madness, which is a story for another time – that helped keep me off the bottom of the social rung at NYADA and boosted my confidence. Doing well in my classes made a big difference as well, allowing me to see that I was good enough to be there."

"Two weeks? What a child! People get sick and don't have sex for two weeks to avoid getting their partner sick. His hands weren't chopped off. He was 18. He could have gone to a sex toy shop."

Kurt burst out laughing, even though he was crying still.

"And even if he hadn't seen you for two months or two years, there are no reasons to cheat on someone. Break up. Be single first. Then, go out and sleep around, or whatever. Cheating is only ever the cheater's fault. "

"That was the conclusion I did eventually come to."

"I'm glad you got help." Sebastian didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, giving Kurt time to add anything else if he wanted to.

Instead, Kurt scooted even closer and buried his face in Sebastian's neck. He held Kurt while he cried and rubbed his hand up and down Kurt's back. Eventually Kurt stopped crying and just let Sebastian hold him until he had completely relaxed.

"Thank you." He scooted back a bit.

"Anytime."

"I'm sorry I cried all over you."

"I'm not. You feel better now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I won't cheat on you." Sebastian pulled him tighter against his chest.

Kurt nodded his head and burrowed into Sebastian's embrace. "I'm trusting you not to." He relaxed in Sebastian's arms. They lay for a while, content in each other's arms. "What would you like me to do tomorrow? How can I best support you?"

"Just love me."

"I do and I will."


	12. Chapter 12

Monday morning the company Sebastian had hired came in with long folding tables. Within 30 minutes, they had a crew show up to load the bedroom suite of Queen Anne style furniture, plus the lamps onto a truck. Sebastian had arranged a trade with another family using the service. The Art Deco furniture he had traded for arrived about 45 minutes later. The movers carried the pieces into the bedroom and left with the mattresses and box springs to be taken to be donated.

By 11:00, the clothes had been sorted and all of the items not being kept had been removed in moving boxes designed for hanging clothes and some regular boxes. Sebastian had chosen seven of his dad's suits to keep citing that he had no idea how he could possibly ever need more than seven. Kurt convinced him to keep the tux as well. He only kept ten of the solid button-up dress shirts after Kurt convinced him that he could put darts in them to make them fit better. They moved the clothes to the study closet to keep them out of the way of the contractor the next day.

Sebastian had them box up all of his dad's law books to donate to the firm where his dad had still worked part-time while he was the State's Attorney. He kept all of his mother's French novels, the books she had from college and work, and her cookbooks. He also kept their collection of coffee table books about different countries.

Sebastian didn't want to go alone to the office to go through the boxes, so Kurt went with him. Once they were inside, they sat down with the counselor at the table and the process began. Kurt sat and held his hand as they went through the keepsakes, jewelry, and things like photos that had been in the room.

The process was very organized, which helped immensely. Doing it outside the house made the process have a finite space and time to accomplish the task in. Once he had finished, Kurt put the boxes with everything Sebastian had decided to keep in the back of the CRV. They stopped at The Container Store to buy some archival safe storage boxes for the photos and the other small boxes they needed for the keepsakes, as well as some drawer organizers for their stuff. Sebastian bought two larger stacking storage boxes to put all of the other smaller boxes in.

They made it home right as Amaline had to leave at 2:30. The girls were asleep. Kurt made the two of them a light lunch while Sebastian used the quiet time to actually move the items from the cardboard boxes and into the storage containers, which he put in the study closet as well. They sat down to eat after Sebastian finished.

"It seems like so little to be left of the lives of such amazing people."

"You told me that they valued experiences and living their lives over collecting stuff, so it's not really all that surprising that there's so little in the way of possessions."

"That's true, but just feels weird. I'm actually glad that we left the house to go through everything somewhere else. It seemed weird when they explained it, but I think it helped. You being there and the counselor helped too. Thank you."

"You're welcome. The whole process reminded me of a book I read by Marie Kondo."

"Actually, it is. I had never read the book, but the company's Facebook page had a lot of great reviews about how much they had helped, so I just went with it knowing that I just needed help. I didn't know how or where to donate stuff or who to contact to auction stuff off or sell it. And I really like their service where people can exchange furniture. My mom liked the Queen Anne furniture, but it's not really my style and the suite wasn't an heirloom from 150 years ago or something. I really like the Art Deco suite. Once the contractor paints, we can decide how to arrange the furniture. I wanted the room to feel like our space, not like we were moving into someone else's room."

They finished eating in silence. They got up to put their dishes in the dishwasher when they were done.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian and held him close. "After last night, I may be addicted to your snuggles."

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist. "I had never really considered myself snuggle material, but I'm pleased to hear that you feel differently. I think I may have come down with the same malady." He kissed Kurt. "So, when the girls wake up, are we going to head out to see if we can find any of the lights you mentioned putting up? And the garland and other stuff?"

"Sure."

"Once I've talked to the contractor tomorrow morning, we can go out and pick out a mattress and set up the delivery for Wednesday."

"You've clearly got this all under control, and I'll do whatever you have planned that you want me to do with you. And if there are things you want to do by yourself, you can do that too."

"There's not a thing that I want to do alone." He kissed Kurt. He heard babbling. "That's our cue."

* * *

"I like this idea better in the long run," Kurt said as they stood back looking at the lights in the kitchen. He stepped back and leaned into Sebastian's chest.

Sebastian smiled and wrapped his arms around Kurt. "I liked your other idea too. Maybe we can do that next year since they were sold out already. This looks good with the LED rope lights around the tops of the cabinets fastened to the backs. We can keep them up all year round since they can't even be seen. It's like a permanent whole-room nightlight. I'm going to turn the lights off so they can see them." He flipped the dining room light off.

Rose started clapping each time when Kurt made the lights change color and she squealed when he made them flash random colors. Aliza kicked her feet in excitement.

"Well, we have a winner." Kurt turned them back to slowly fade from one color to another. He left the lights off to let the girls watch them.

They put them in the playard and turned on some Christmas music before they went to work hanging the garland along the tops of the windows in the living room.

"I have a box of ornaments in the garage. You can grab some of yours when we pick your stuff up. We can hang them up Friday. We'll just put the bows on the ends for now."

After they got the bows in place, Kurt pulled the battery-operated pillar candles out of their box.

"Are you sure those are going to be okay? I know they're not what you had described."

"They're fine. They'll still light up the windows and they're a lot more practical since they use AA batteries. Those cell batteries in the tapered candles are not easy to change and I didn't want cords along the floor. Plus, we can use the timer and all of these run on the same remote. And if one of the girls manages to grab one some how, these aren't easily broken and they can't stick them in their mouths."

"All good points." Sebastian pulled out the pack of rechargeable batteries and began installing them in the candles. He tried each one to make sure it worked.

Once he had the batteries in all of them, they spread them out on the four windowsills in the room. There were four more. They kept back two to put in their bedroom windows once the room was ready to use. They put one in the playroom window that faced the wrap-around porch and one in the window above the sink, which also faced the porch.

"I'll warm up dinner if you want to get their formula ready while you clean up the packaging."

It took a little more focus with the low lighting, but about ten minutes later, they sat down together. Kurt turned the dining room light back on and fed Rose the baby food broccoli that she wasn't fond of.

Kurt said, "She'll like it better once we add a tiny bit of butter or garlic and salt. It's just really bland like this."

"I can't say what I think of how it tastes. She's listening."

Kurt chuckled. "Exactly." Kurt's phone pinged with a text. "Sorry, I'm just going to check to see if it's my dad." He looked and it was. He texted him back and put his phone back in his pocket. "I told him that I'd call him in ten minutes."

After they finished eating, Sebastian offered to clean up so that Kurt could call Burt.

* * *

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey. I talked to Carole."

"Okay."

"Since Christmas is in the middle of the week this year, her family has decided on the weekend before so more people can come. They're getting together Friday evening through Sunday night. I wanted to see if we could come for lunch on that Monday and stay for a little while. We could stop on our way back home from Zanesville."

"I think that would be fine, but I'll text you after I talk to Sebastian."

"I need some guidance for Christmas gifts."

"Well, if you're trying to be helpful, diapers are always a good choice."

"For you, Kurt. Not for Aliza."

"I'm not expecting anything, Dad. I'm an adult. I don't need anything beyond the necessities I buy each week – groceries, diapers, and gasoline. Buying me something expensive that I don't need makes no sense."

"Alright. I'll let you go. Let me know about Monday."

"Will do."

* * *

When Kurt went back out into the dining room, he found both girls in the playard. Sebastian was almost finished washing the dishes.

"You can go ahead and shower first," Sebastian said.

"Okay. My dad wants to know if they can come Monday for lunch. You can think about it while I shower."

Sebastian answered him when Kurt came out of the bathroom. "Monday's fine. I'm going to shower now."

Kurt nodded and went his room. He texted Burt to let him know. His room looked so strange with just the mattress on the floor. The desk had been moved out to the garage to be refinished along with Sebastian's. After he left his laundry in his hamper, he went back into the dining room to watch the girls while Sebastian showered.

After they did their evening routine of dancing, singing, and reading books, they put the girls to bed. When they went back in the living room, Sebastian picked his mom's iPad up off the table as they walked past. After they sat down, Sebastian brought it up.

"I reset it to the factory settings. It's an iPad 4. It has 128gb storage. She got it a little over a year ago. I know you don't have one. I'd like you to have it. All you have to do is put in your Apple ID and it will be yours."

"Are you sure? You could keep it for yourself if it's newer than yours."

"I actually bought an iPad Air when they came in November because mine was the first model and the iOS couldn't be updated anymore. I kept it for the girls to use to draw on or whatever we can find for them that's age appropriate that can still work on the older operating system."

"You're sure it won't bother you to see me use it?"

"I'm sure. It's just a piece of technology. I don't have any sentimental attachment to the device itself. I uploaded everything that was important to iCloud and sent anything that I couldn't upload to myself before I reset it."

"Thank you. I got used to having one when I worked at _Vogue_ , but I had to give it back when the internship was over."

"I was going to see if you wanted to watch a movie, but I'm actually really wiped out, so I may fall asleep."

"That's okay. You can put in whatever relaxes you or you can play some music. I'll put in my ID and get this updated to the newest iOS and install the apps I use on my phone. We'll snuggle and relax."

* * *

After the last night feeding, the two of them went into Kurt's room and lay down on the mattress facing each other.

"I've never slept in the same bed with anyone like this," Kurt said. "My apologies in advance if I talk in my sleep or kick you."

"I haven't either. It's a risk I'm willing to take." He scooted forward and kissed Kurt before he turned on his side facing away from Kurt. "Scoot closer and snuggle me. I want to try out being the little spoon."

Kurt turned on his side and scooted up behind Sebastian. After a couple of minutes of rearranging, they both got comfortable. Kurt kissed the back of Sebastian's neck. He had his arm under Sebastian's, draped across his chest. Sebastian brought Kurt's hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

"Thank you for staying with me today."

"I'm glad having me there made it easier. I know how hard going through all of Finn's stuff was for Carole. She insisted on doing it right away. I'm not sure whether that was a good or bad choice. Maybe there's no better choice because it's always terrible to do, no matter when it's done."

"For me, this was the right time. It's been six months. I can't really explain, but I'm okay. I miss them a lot. Of course there are things I wish I had done and things I wish I hadn't. But honestly, they never knew about the things I did that I wish I hadn't. Both of them pursued careers they liked. They bought this house. They traveled. They enjoyed the cultural places here as well. They had me, which they wanted. They wanted more kids. I read through a few pages of what turned out to be my mom's most recent journal when I was looking through the books. My parents tried to have more kids for years and never did. They had given up. And then after all those years of assuming she'd never have another child, she had Rose. She was thrilled. That's what the entry was about – just how excited she was to be getting the chance to be Rose's mom. She wrote the entry a few days before the accident. I just want to be a good parent to her like my parents would have been."

"You are. You're really good with her and Aliza too. They both love you. They may be babies, but you can see it in their eyes. They both just light up when they see you." Kurt nuzzled in tighter. "Okay?"

"Yes." He sighed and relaxed in Kurt's embrace. "I think I quite like being the little spoon."

Kurt kissed Sebastian's shoulder. "I love you, Bas."

"Bas?"

"Do you hate it?"

"No, actually I like it. Other people have called me Seb, which is okay, but no one's called me Bas before." He kissed Kurt's knuckles again. "I love you too."

* * *

The next morning, they moved Sebastian's drawing table and dresser to the middle of his room, so it would be easier to paint. They moved his books out as well, putting his schoolbooks in the study and his other books in their bedroom. The contractor and the small crew arrived at 8:30 to get started. Two of the crew went out to the garage and began working on refinishing the desks and constructing the Murphy bed console. The other two began to prep the playroom, the playroom closet, the master bedroom, bath, and closet to be painted. The contractor went around with Sebastian to make sure that she had everything on her list that Sebastian wanted done.

They left the girls with Amaline in their room with the small heater from the garage with the window open just slightly and a towel rolled in front of the door along to block any minor fumes from the low VOC paint Sebastian had chosen for the walls.

They left and went to their favorite bagel shop. Kurt ordered his favorite asiago bagel with jalapeño cream cheese, but this time Sebastian ventured out and tried the apple cinnamon bagel with the honey cinnamon cream cheese. They left the bagel shop hand in hand, smiling and laughing. They went to TJ Maxx, Macy's, Kohl's, and a couple of vintage second-hand shops before they made up their mind about the bedding, made their purchases, and headed home.

They made it home just after the girls had woken up. Amaline had gotten them ready to go out. Kurt packed them both in his car while Sebastian grabbed their stuff and made bottles for them since Amaline hadn't come out to do it while they were gone. They let Amaline leave early and headed out to pay Grandma and Grandpa a surprise visit for the afternoon, returning not long before the crew was heading out for the day.

* * *

The contractor and crew came back Wednesday and finished up their work and were gone by noon. Kurt and Sebastian arranged the bedroom furniture and moved all of their clothes into the master closet and the dresser.

By late Wednesday afternoon when the new queen-sized bed was delivered, they had aired the master bedroom out for two days. They had washed and dried the new bedding, and they were ready to put the mattress and box springs on the bed frame. They arranged the furniture was well.

"Why didn't you want to put any of the furniture on this wall?" Kurt asked, standing by the wall that ran perpendicular to the built-in shelving.

"Because I'm getting a love seat to put there. I just thought it would be nice to not always have to sit on the bed to read. If we have Amaline take the girls into the playroom or their bedroom after breakfast for a bit, we can come in here, close the door, and they'll never know we're here. I'm not trying to hide from them, but you know that when they see us, they think we're going to play with them. Sometimes we might want need time to ourselves in the mornings."

"I get it." He looked around the room. "Well, what do you think?"

"I like it a lot. What about you?"

"I think it looks really nice. You did a good job on the color and I really do like the Art Deco furniture. The mostly black and green geometric patterned Art Deco-inspired comforter looks really good with the walls. I wasn't sure until I saw it in person. And to be honest, I love the vanity. We can take one of the pillow shams out with us and I can get some fabric to reupholster the vanity bench. We can use it as an ottoman too with the love seat you're getting. Shall we try the bed out?"

"Definitely." Sebastian lay down on the bed and slid his arm out to the center for Kurt to lie facing him. As soon as he did, Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt's back and ran his hand along his back gently. He kissed Kurt softly. "It seems pretty snuggly."

"Mmm hmm." He scooted closer and wrapped his leg over the top of Sebastian's to get closer. He ran his fingers along Sebastian's jaw. "You have gorgeous eyes."

"Yours are different than any I've seen. They change color. I tried to figure out what color they were without staring at you like a maniac, but I gave up when I realized they change colors. I've seen them blue, blue green, and blue gray for sure."

"I don't mind you staring. It's actually really nice. So many people have actively ignored me that having someone want to look at me feels nice."

"Well, then, I'll stop making myself refrain from looking."

Kurt kissed him and pressed in, moving them from the gentle kisses to making out. When they paused to catch their breath, Kurt said, "You can look all you want, but touching is allowed too." He moved to kiss along Sebastian's jaw. "Thank you for working so hard to make a nice space just for us. It's perfect. It's light and cheery and it's funky and fun."

"I'm glad you like it. We'll go get all of your stuff Friday when your parents are gone. We should be able to get it all boxed up, bring it back, and get it put away before Amaline leaves. We can put Rose in her spinny seat and Aliza in her reclining bouncer seat and they can watch us decorate after their nap."

"Sounds like a good plan, but I liked the one about us snuggling. I was envisioning more kissing and less planning." He propped up slightly and began to lick Sebastian's ear and kissed down his neck. "Please tell me what you do and don't like."

Sebastian moved just slightly giving Kurt more access to his neck. Kurt took the hint and placed slightly open-mouthed kisses down Sebastian's neck. He ran his hand through the back of Sebastian's hair. He kissed his way back up Sebastian's neck until he reached his ear. "I love you." He kissed along his jaw and back to his lips.

Sebastian slipped his hand behind Kurt's neck and drew him closer, while licking at Kurt's lower lip and kissing him passionately. When he had to stop to catch his breath, he kissed along the underside of Kurt's jaw and said, "What I like is being with you. Kissing you. Holding you. Snuggling with you. Cooking with you. Everything with you. All of you."

Eventually, the sounds of their girls in the baby monitor caused them to break apart. They kissed once more gently and went to the girls' room.

* * *

They put the girls in the playard after they changed them. Kurt grabbed the bed linens from the laundry room and met Sebastian in their new office.

"So, the narrow cabinet and drawers to the left of the bed are going to be where we put those. We'll need to roll the comforter though to make it fit in the cabinet. The other drawers will be for guests to put their folded clothes. And I figured you could put bolts of fabric in the top section and whatever other supplies you need that you don't want to just sit out in the open on the other shelves in the cabinet."

Kurt smiled and nodded. He refolded the sheets and the blanket to make them fit in the three drawers. Sebastian stood the pillows on the top shelf in the upper part of the cabinet. They worked together to fold and roll the comforter. They put it inside, but within a minute, it had pushed the cabinet door open.

"I can sew some ties to it like a sleeping bag has to keep it from unrolling inside the cabinet. Or I can fasten some strapping with a clasp to the inside facing of the cabinet to keep the comforter from pushing the door open."

"Both ideas are good. You can do one of them later. I'll just put it in the closet for now."

"I like the way you had our desks redone. There's a lot of white in this room with the trim, the bookshelves, the wood blinds, and the Murphy bed console being white. Having the tops of our desks and our chairs re-stained a nice warm walnut color to match each other and the dark walnut frames on the paintings and painting the lower portion of our desks white creates a unified look to the room. And those paintings look really good in here on the pale cornflower blue walls."

"They're really pretty, but they didn't go with the master suite anymore, so I'm glad they look good in here. I was planning to go to Ikea and Target tomorrow morning and get some new lamps and lighting. You said you're taking a class that involves sewing and this room doesn't get as much light as my old one. I'm going to need better lighting in here to draw and so will you. Make a list of anything you think we need like storage baskets for the girls' new playroom or whatever. Let's go in there and move my dresser and all of the Legos into the closet now that the walls are dry."

After they had finished that and they had rearranged all of the girls' stuff, they picked them up from the playard and took them into their new playroom. Sebastian hosted their tour.

"And over here are all of your books and toys. I know you can't reach them now, but that's because you need help playing with them right now. Once you get bigger, we'll put them down where you can reach them whenever you want. And the bouncy spinny seat is in here. And the walls are a pretty pale aqua now. Daddy has a pretty valance he can put up in here and we're going to get a love seat in here so Amaline can sit and watch you two play and she can hold you and read books to you."

Rose patted Sebastian on the chest.

"Yes, of course, and Papa can read books to you too."

She smiled. "Pa-pa. Pa-pa." She turned her cheek to him so he would kiss her.

"Mwuah."

She giggled and turned her other cheek so he would do it again.

"Mwuah."

Kurt said, "I think some soft baskets might be nice for now. That way Amaline could just sit a basket full of toys down and they won't get hurt if they fall over onto them or crawl into them. I have the pillows that I made still too. We can put them on whatever love seat we get. Maybe we can look at their art prints and put a poster up in here or we could buy a few canvases and paint them ourselves. You can draw amazing house designs and I can design clothes. Surely between the two of us we can paint a whale or some seahorses or fish or something."

"Excellent idea. We'll get whatever we need while we're out tomorrow."

"So, let's continue your tour." He left and went across the hall to their study. "Now, this room is where Papa and Daddy will do their work. It's our study. See, my desks are in here now with Daddy's desk." He walked over to the console and touched it. "We put the bed in here." He walked around the room letting Rose look.

Kurt stood near the door holding Aliza, who wasn't as into the tour as Rose, but was watching Sebastian and listening to him talk. When Sebastian had made it all the way around the room, he leaned towards Kurt and kissed him gently.

He went passed the bathroom towards the master suite and opened the door. "And in here, is Papa and Daddy's new room. Here on the right, we have our own bathroom." He stepped inside to let her see. He stepped back out into the hall and into their closet. "And in here we have our closet." He left and walked into the room. "And in here we have our bed and our books. And that's the end of the tour. Are you two ready for dinner?" He tickled Rose's belly just enough to make her smile. "Let's go back in the kitchen and you two can play while we make it."

* * *

"What made you decide to have the master bath partially remodeled?" Kurt continued to simmer the chicken and keep an eye on the rice he was cooking.

Sebastian chopped vegetables as he answered, "I really only had a new counter top put in with a double sink. Now there aretwo sinks instead of one sink with a lot of countertop space. I figured that the two of us would actually end up shaving at the same time sometimes. I don't know. I just thought we could use two sinks instead of one. It's still the same tall storage cabinet next to the sink and the same cabinet underneath the sink. I just had them painted. The original dark wood just looked dated and dark. I like the white with the pale green walls. It's not a big bathroom, but it has the corner garden tub and it just felt cramped with the dark cabinets. I had the regular doors taken down on the bathroom and closet for the same reason. When they were opened into the rooms, it just made the space cramped. I liked the idea of pocket doors, but the expense and time was too much for me to seriously consider it, but the sliding hanging barn doors were a simple solution. Do you not like them?"

"Actually, I do. I've seen them in magazines, but never in person. I'm looking forward to trying out the garden tub. I've never had one. I used to enjoy taking baths occasionally until I hit my growth spurt between sophomore and junior year. Then, I couldn't really get comfortable in a tub anymore." He turned to get the carrots to add them to the stir-fry.

Sebastian winked at him. "Well, now you can have a bath any time you want. Maybe I'll even give it a try myself some time. I can't even remember the last time I took a bath."

Kurt grabbed the rest of the vegetables and tossed them in. He stepped closer to Sebastian and kissed him quickly before turning back to cook. "You did a great job with the whole project."

"I'm glad you like everything. I wanted you to feel like this is our place now."

"I do."

* * *

They got ready for bed in the master suite for the first time that evening. Kurt showered first and sat at the new vanity for the first time to go through his nighttime moisturizing routine, which he had pared down drastically since returning from New York, but it was still an important part of his daily routine that he had been glad to be able to reinstate once he had moved in with Sebastian. It helped him to wind down at the end of the evening

Sebastian came in from the bathroom just as Kurt was finishing up. He got caught up in watching Kurt.

"It's actually really relaxing. It's sort of like a face massage each evening before I go to sleep."

"I can see how that could be. People pay good money to go have facials done. There must be something quite pleasant about it or they wouldn't pay to have it done."

"I've never been to a spa to have one like that, but I bet it's relaxing. I just watched tutorials online. I used to go to the make up counters at Macy's when each company was doing miniature product giveaways. I found what I liked, and over time, I've switched brands a few times. I don't go to Macy's anymore, but it was a good start. I could give you a facial some time if you'd like."

"Sure. If nothing else, I'll know what the hype is about. Plus, you touching me would make it totally worth it." He leaned down and kissed Kurt. "Ready for bed?"

Kurt nodded. He put the last bottle he had used back in the drawer, and then walked around the bed to lie down. "I like the lamps," Kurt said, as he turned the one on his side of the bed off before he got in bed. He lay on his back and pulled the covers up. "I put my nightlight in over here behind the nightstand while you were in the bathroom. I hope it's okay, at least for a couple of nights until I reorient myself to where I'm sleeping."

"It's actually a good idea that I hadn't thought of. We were practically on the floor the past two nights, but this bed definitely sits higher off the floor than mine did."

Kurt moved closer to the middle of the bed. "I like the soft flannel sheets we got. Very cozy. If you turn over one way or the other, we can snuggle."

He rolled onto his side and kissed Kurt. "You do actually like everything, right?"

"I do. A lot. You have really good taste and I've always loved Art Deco stuff. I like a lot of the old advertisements and movie posters."

"Well, you saw that I moved the artwork that was in here to the study since it was impressionist and didn't go with this style. We can look for some artwork to hang in here."

"I bet we could find some of your favorite comic book characters from way back done in an Art Deco style on one of those poster prints websites. I have a framed _Wicked_ poster that's not entirely Art Deco, but similar and the colors would match what we have in here. We could hang it over the love seat. It's in my closet at my parents'. I also have my small collection of Broadway and Off-Broadway playbills that was going to have framed. But you could take some of your favorite comic books and we could copy the covers of both and we could make two interesting pieces to hang somewhere in here."

"That could be a fun project to work on next week."

"Mmm hmm. We could order a couple of poster prints tomorrow and they'd be here by the end of next week."

"Good plan."

"Okay. I think I've figured out another thing we have in common."

"What's that?"

"I lie in bed thinking far too much before I manage to fall asleep."

"Yeah, me too."

Kurt scooted a little closer to Sebastian. "I have a potential solution to our overthinking."

"Do tell."

He kissed Sebastian, soft and sweet. He ran his thumb along Sebastian's cheek, moving to running his fingers through his hair. He didn't press beyond the chaste kissing, but it didn't take long for Sebastian to wrap his hand behind Kurt's neck to pull him closer.

"This is so much nicer than counting sheep," Sebastian said, as he kissed down Kurt's neck. "Great idea."

"Do you like it when I play with your hair?" He was hoping that Sebastian would say that he did because he enjoyed doing it.

"Like is definitely not a strong enough word for how I feel about it. Feel free to do it any time you want to."

"I'll keep that in mind." He relaxed as Sebastian resumed the neck kisses.


	13. Chapter 13

Late Thursday morning, Kurt and Sebastian returned from their home décor shopping trip. They pulled the large boxes out of the truck bed and took them into the garage. They unboxed the first one, and carried it into their room.

"I can't believe we found an Art Deco-ish love seat at Target," Kurt said, as they carried the charcoal love seat into their bedroom and put it against the empty wall.

Sebastian looked around the room. "It looks good. Let's go bring the other love seat in before the snow soaks through the box."

They unboxed it and carried it into the playroom.

"I love the orange," Kurt said. "I figured the options would be gray, brown, and black. The orange is so cheerful."

Sebastian stepped back. "I like it too. I'm glad I let you talk me into the orange. It's never been one of my favorite colors, but it's a great contrast with the pale aqua walls. And it really does make it look more like a kiddie playroom."

They went back outside. Kurt used the broom to sweep out the back of the truck while Sebastian used a box cutter to chop the boxes into sections small enough to fit into their recycle bin. Once the snow was out of the back, Kurt pulled the truck into the garage. When Sebastian finished, he helped bring in the bags from the backseat. "I think these felted storage boxes are perfect. Let's set them up and put their toys in." Kurt took one of the Ikea bags into the playroom.

Sebastian followed him. "I know they aren't old enough for the stuffed fruit and vegetable baskets yet, but they will be in a few months. I'm just going to stick them in the dresser in the closet until then." He stepped inside the closet. "I'm glad I had the closets painted white. When my mom had Rose's room and the room that's our office now repainted last year, she had the closet walls painted white. It makes them a lot brighter."

Kurt went in the study closet, grabbed the pillows he had made for the efficiency, and put them on the love seat. He took the valence into the laundry room and ironed it quickly. He took it back to the playroom, took the empty rod down on the window, slipped it through the channel he had sewn on the back of the valence, and put it back up on the window.

"It looks good," Sebastian said.

Once they finished the playroom, they moved on to adding the other things they'd gotten to finish up the other rooms so they could be done before Amaline had to leave for the day. They carried the lamps and the bag of other things they had gotten for the study into the room, put them on Kurt's desk, and started putting them where they went.

"Are we going to your grandparents' Saturday?"

"They're expecting us. Do you not want to go?"

"That's not it. I was just checking. I know it's our weekend to go, but with it being the weekend before Christmas, I thought they might have other plans."

"Nope, but I suspect that they have some kind of cute holiday outfits for the girls that they can wear on Christmas Eve. I caught Grandma looking at the tags on their outfits two weeks ago. I figured that she was checking their sizes."

"Sounds about right. Have you told them about us?" Kurt situated the desk lamp he had gotten where he wanted it and climbed under the desk to plug it in.

"I did. Grandma's response was, 'Good for you, dear. I'm glad you found someone. He's a real sweetheart.' I've told you for ages that she likes you. I meant that."

Kurt nodded.

"Grandpa said, 'You did good, Sebastian.'"

Kurt chuckled. "They're both really sweet." He stood back up and turned the lamp on and off to check that it worked.

"They are." Sebastian stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Kurt's lower back. "After New Year's, I'd like you to start the process of getting a Passport for you and Aliza. It will take a while."

"Why do we need Passports?"

"Because I want to take you to Paris." He kissed Kurt gently.

"What?" Kurt pulled back and gave Sebastian a confused look.

"You don't want to go?"

"Of course, I do, but I can't afford to."

"Well, I can afford to take all of us and I want to take my gorgeous boyfriend and our two daughters to meet the rest of my family some time."

"I told you that I didn't want you to offer to do things for me just because you can."

"And I haven't been. You've paid for your own meals out, groceries, half of the household cleaning items, and the personal things you bought when we were out shopping today. I haven't overstepped and I won't. Rose is 9 months old and my family members in France haven't gotten to see her yet. She's going to end up being 14-15 months old before I can take her there and I don't want to leave half of my family here while I go to see my family there. Please don't consider this to be flaunting my money. I need you to understand that I do know how important money is. And I'm not just going to throw around what I've inherited. I know that I want to work for a living, even though I would never have to. Just think about it, okay? And consider it from my perspective too."

"Alright. I'll consider your point of view." He kissed Sebastian. "On a completely different topic, before we go to bed tonight, we should figure our where we're going to put my sound system. We need to make room for it and see what might need to be done to plug it in. I figured we'd put it in our room since there's already a stereo in the living room."

"That would be nice. We could listen to music in our room." Sebastian got up from where he had plugged the light in for his drawing table and looked around the room. "Okay. I think that's it. I'll go check on the casserole in the oven. I know you bought some storage and organization stuff for your desk. You can work on that so everything will be done and ready to bring your stuff here tomorrow morning."

* * *

Later that evening, Kurt lay in bed, this time as the little spoon. He scooted back into Sebastian's chest. Sebastian slid his left arm under Kurt's pillow and his right arm under Kurt's arm and put his hand on Kurt's heart. Kurt closed his eyes and did his best to relax, but wasn't really succeeding. Sebastian could feel the tension.

"What's got you so tense?"

Kurt signed. "It just feels weird to sneak into my parents' house and bring my stuff here."

"Weird because your stuff will be here or weird because of feeling like you're sneaking."

"The sneaking part. I used to keep a lot of stuff from my dad, and I told him that I'd stop, but now I'm going to go take my stuff without telling him."

"Just text him in the morning before we get there and tell him."

"I didn't tell him because I knew it would upset him. But now that I'm thinking about it, he may have informed the security company that he'd be gone from tomorrow morning until Monday evening. If I open the door, even using the code to get in, the security company might come out to the house."

Sebastian kissed him on the back of the neck. "I know you have a long history of keeping things to yourself. I just want you to know that I really want us to be open and honest with each other. I don't want you to feel like you have to hide something or some part of yourself from me. If I don't understand why something you do is important to you, I will listen to you tell me why. You told me why you used certain products and we switched to those. I wasn't bothered at all. Not everything has to be my way. I know you probably feel that way to an extent because you moved in here with me. I know that I made a bunch of design decisions without your input, but I did take into consideration what I knew about you when I made those choices. Since I had no idea that you would be here over break, I thought it would be a really nice surprise. I had planned to wait until you came back to pick out the comforter. I wanted to do it together – that and the art for the walls."

Kurt slipped his left hand up and intertwined his fingers with Sebastian's hand that was on his chest. "I'm not keeping my 'real' opinion to myself about what you've done with the redecorating. I think everything looks great, and everything I've said has been completely honest. We'll just have to keep our mask-wearing alter-egos in check. I know that neither of us is being our true selves at school. We just have to make sure to leave the masks off and learn to turn to each other and trust completely. We're definitely on our way to that. I really do love you and I want that closeness with you that I've always dreamed of having with someone – someone I could tell hopes and dreams to who wouldn't laugh, but who would ask me about them and even dream with me, even if what I hope for and dream about for is so far out of reach as to be impossible to attain."

"I know that you're dropping your walls and being vulnerable with me. I want to be that someone. I'm not that guy who's caught up in pretending to be someone I'm not anymore. Like you said, you've seen my geeky stuff and you didn't run for the hills. I'm wearing Green Lantern pajama pants right now and you're still willing to share a bed with me."

Kurt chuckled. He nudged Sebastian back and rolled over to face him. He put his hand on the side of his face and stroked his cheek before kissed him. He lay close enough that they were nose to nose. "I like your geeky side. It makes you more real. I'm looking forward to building that Harry Potter Hogwarts castle with you week after next. I don't have to want to read every comic book you own to be glad that you have a hobby that you enjoy. I'm not expecting you to suddenly think that _Vogue_ is more interesting than the Green Lantern."

"That's just not possible, you know." Sebastian pecked him on the nose.

Kurt could feel him laughing silently. "I do know. I fell in love with you while you were being your geeky self – making sound effects while feeding Rose, putting on shows while putting away the dishes to keep her entertained while you do mundane chores that have to be done, singing and dancing around the dining room holding her in your arms and making her smile, and being a generally all-around silly and fun guy to spend time with. You didn't woo me with flowers, flattery, and fancy dates, telling me about living the high life in Paris. You wooed me by blowing raspberries on baby tummies and by letting me see just how much love you have inside you. I was able to let my walls down with you because I didn't feel the need to constantly defend myself anymore."

"You make me sound all fluffy and sweet."

"You are. You're so smart, but you're also funny and sarcastic and somewhat smartassy still. I like those parts of you too. I really like you and I love you. They aren't the same. It took me a while in counseling to separate some of my feelings and issues – like versus love, obligation, manipulation, and guilt versus free-will giving. I learned about gaslighting and accepting blame that isn't mine. All sorts of things. I've changed. And it took me a while to get myself in a good place. I'm still figuring myself out, but I think everyone our age is. Neither one of us is perfect and being single parents at 19 wasn't something either of us had on our bucket list at age 16."

Sebastian chuckled. "Definitely not, but just because it wasn't something we dreamed of ahead of time doesn't mean that it's not rewarding and something we actually enjoy. And we're not single dads anymore." He kissed Kurt. "I am definitely taken – very taken with you. And just so you know, I really like you too." He kissed him again, this time with passion. "I love you. I didn't say anything at first because I didn't want you to feel like I felt that way because I was lonely and you were here. That's not the reason. We could have stayed best friends who were single dads. It's not like no one at school had asked me out. I've turned down quite a few date offers because I wanted to spend time with you."

"I didn't know you had turned down dates."

Sebastian ran his hand down Kurt's arm and stopped above his elbow. "Never, ever think that I chose you just because you were here and my only option. I love you because you're you," Sebastian kissed him again. "Sometimes life throws us huge curve balls, but we swing just right and knock it out of the ballpark. That's how I feel with you."

Kurt didn't know what to say, so he kissed Sebastian. When they broke for air, he ran his hand through Sebastian's hair. No one had asked him out, but he avoided areas where students congregated so he could focus on getting as much work done as possible. And when he had free time at lunch on Fridays, he met up with Sebastian and ate with him before his early afternoon class. He also realized that it wouldn't have mattered if ten guys had asked him out, he would have turned them all down to spend time with Sebastian. "I've been going to class and between classes I've been hiding out in empty places, doing as much work as quickly as I could do it and still do it well. I've not given anyone a chance to get to know me or approach me really. I've intentionally partnered with girls when I've had to have partners – just like I did in high school, to avoid being paired with an unwilling guy. After we met up at the park that day, we just hit it off and I didn't really seek out anyone else."

"So, you're saying that I was your only choice?"

"In a way, but a good way. I'm saying that I enjoyed spending time with you. I could let my guard down and I felt comfortable around you, which isn't something I can honestly say about many people. I didn't choose you because you were the only option. You became the chosen option because I liked being around you so much that I chose being with you over spending time with other people. I think we started all of this with you telling me that you want me to be open and honest with you and not try to shield you from what I consider something potentially negative."

"Mmm hmm."

"I will do my best. I guess my request in return is to ask you to listen carefully and not fly off the handle, not that I ever seen you to it, but I have had others do it, so I'm going to expect a negative reaction even though I don't expect _you_ to react negatively. I know that sounds weird, but when you've spent as much time as I have waiting for the other shoe to drop, the expectation is just there."

"I get it. You're ingrained reaction is to expect anyone to react negatively when you assert yourself in anyway."

"Basically, yes. You did a better job of explaining it than I did. I want you to be honest with me. I don't want you to walk on eggshells and feel like you need to hide yourself and true feelings from me. It will be something we'll just have to work on together as an issue comes up."

"I think we can do it. We've both seen the benefits of counseling. If we start having problems, we'll go see someone. I'm serious about this working. I'm far from the epitome of a mature adult, but I'm willing to learn."

Kurt kissed him. "Me too. I'm going to turn back over so we can snuggle and sleep. We have plans in the morning."

Sebastian snuggled up behind him.

* * *

They left Friday morning after Amaline arrived. Four hours later they were back with all of Kurt's stuff, the fabric they needed to recover the vanity bench, three blank canvases to paint and hang in the playroom, and a few other miscellaneous things they needed.

Kurt put all of his clothes away while Sebastian made them lunch. When Kurt finished, he took the empty boxes back out to the garage. They sat down and ate quickly. The girls had already eaten and were in the playroom with Amaline.

After they ate, they covered the table with a vinyl summer picnic table cover they picked up from the 90% off bin at the fabric store. Kurt worked on painting the canvas a darker version of the aqua paint on the walls while Sebastian worked on the girls' laundry. Kurt used a line drawing of a sea horse on his iPad as a reference. He did a decent job doing the outline, but he struggled once he started to paint it. He managed to stay in the lines he'd drawn, but it didn't look like he wanted it to.

"We need Sam."

"Sam?"

"He's a really good artist. He could make this seahorse look amazing. I miss him."

"So invite him to come visit. We have a guest room now."

"I don't want to put him in a tough place like that."

"I thought about what you said the last time we talked about this. Don't you think it's kind of presumptuous for you to make that decision single-handedly?"

"What do you mean?"

"Has he ever broken his word to you? Ever given you any indication that he can't keep a secret?"

"No, never."

"Then, maybe you should ask him if he wants to come and tell him that it involves keeping things about your life to himself. If he wants to be a part of your life knowing that it involves keeping secrets, then he's made his own choice. If he says, 'I'd rather not', then you have your answer."

"You really wouldn't mind him coming here?"

"I wouldn't. Amaline won't be coming for the next two weeks. So, it will just be the four of us here. Maybe he could come for the weekend."

Kurt nodded. "You're sure?"

Sebastian put the laundry basket down on the floor and stepped close enough to hug Kurt. He kissed him on the neck. "I'm sure."

Kurt's face lit up. "I'm going to go call him now."

* * *

"Hey!" Sam answered the phone cheerfully.

"Hey. How are things?"

"A little nuts. I'm glad to be back with my family. I had some crazy times in New York, but I'm done. I'm not going back. I thought maybe I could work it out with Mercedes after she came. I still love her, but she's got her mind set on touring and I thought about it a lot. I'd love to tour with her for like three months or something, just for the experience of it and to get to see a lot of the country, but that's what she wants to do, like, for a long time. I gave big city life a shot and I even made it, but it's not what I want. I want to settle down. I want to get a little place of my own, get a job doing something I don't hate, and find someone who loves me for me, you know?"

"So, you're going to stay in Kentucky?"

"Um, yeah, but not here. My dad got a job offer in Lexington. We're moving there in a couple of weeks, in time for Stevie and Stacey to start the semester at their new school. It's not Tennessee, but it's just two and a half hours from my grandparents, both sets. We're going to rent a house we found for a while. Dad doesn't want to risk buying again like we did in Lima. My mom finished those classes she needed to take and she got a position as a teacher's aide in Lexington starting in January. Now, she'll be off in the summers."

"I remember you saying that she was hoping to get on some place next fall because Stevie would be too old to come to the daycare after his birthday in August."

"Yeah. So, she's excited. She'll be able to be home when they get off the school bus and she'll be home all summer. I'm going to have to share a room with Stevie until I can afford my own place, but things have been worse than that before. I figure I can save up until August, and then get my own place."

"Sounds like a good plan. I was actually wondering if you might have time to come see me next weekend. You can come Friday or Saturday, whatever works for you and you can stay a couple of days."

"Really? You've been so secretive lately that I've wondered what's going on."

"There's just a lot I didn't know how to explain. Before you agree to come, I need you to know what whatever happens here has to stay between us. I've kept things from you. I did it because I didn't want you to know things that put you in the position of having to lie to everyone, but I shouldn't make choices for you. If you don't want to be in a position of knowing things you can't share, then I understand that. I hope to keep being your friend. I just won't be able to share some things."

"I'm not going back to New York, and I seriously doubt that anyone there will take time out of their busy lives to keep in contact with me. And even if one of them specifically asks me what I know about what you're up to, I'll tell them they should just ask you themselves. None of them knows how close we are anyway. I'm a better actor than I've ever given myself credit for. Everyone bought the 'Sam is Blaine's bestie' and no one ever once asked me about being in contact with you. Blaine got me in the 'divorce'. That's how everyone saw it. I definitely want to come see you. I've tried a bunch of times and you've always given me reasons why you couldn't."

"I know. I'll text you the address and you can let me know when you're going to arrive. Just be prepared to be surprised."

* * *

Sebastian was still in the dining room when Kurt came back in.

"He's going to let me know when he can come next weekend." He looked down at the canvases.

"Excellent. I went ahead and painted the other two canvases aqua. I figured that having that part done would speed up the process. We can show him the three designs and he can help us."

"Thank you for saying he can come."

Sebastian took the sponge paintbrush to the sink to rinse it out and left it there in some water to soak. He rinsed and dried his hands and went back over to the table. "I want you to have friends. I want to have friends. I just don't have a good track record and honestly, neither do you. We both got bullied for who we were. I ran back to my grandparents in Paris. You had no option but to stay in Podunk, Ohio and try to survive. You became a first-class bitch and back-talked all of the bullies, until you saw no other choice but to flee to Dalton, where you finally conformed. I faked my way into the popular group in Paris and I used my newfound social clout to stay on top. I came back as a better-than-you entrée served with a side of Parisian manwhore."

Kurt laughed. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Sebastian.

Sebastian responded by pecking Kurt on the lips and putting his hands on Kurt's lower back. "I didn't do myself any favors. I went to Dalton for two years, a lot longer than you, and I don't have any real friends to show for it either. The closest I came to making friends with anyone was probably Nick, but he and Jeff are off at Harvard. I have nothing in common with him now. I barely had anything then. And most of your former so-called friends from Lima are so into themselves that they see everyone else in their lives as accessories or non-entities if they aren't singing their praises."

"Harsh, but fairly accurate. The rest were fair-weather friends."

"And we've both talked about how we're not ready for the people we go to school with to know that we have babies. You trust Sam and I trust you. We'll see how it goes. He may come and be completely okay with it and he may come and leave an hour later and say that he won't tell anyone, but that he doesn't want to be a part of your life anymore. It might be something in between. But from everything you've said, he deserves a chance to decide whether he wants to be part of your life, and since we're together, part of mine."

"Okay." He looked back at the table. "Once these are dry, we can move them to the study. I just thought of something that we didn't get today."

"What's that?"

"One of those walk-through baby gates to put on the hallway at the edge of their bedroom door and the playroom door. Amaline's in there with the door shut so we could finish up the house update, but if she needs to change one of them when she's here alone, we don't want the other to escape into the hallway and into the bathroom or the dining room. Once they're old enough to start to get potty trained, we can move the baby gate to the opening past the bathroom door. Otherwise, we'll have to move the playard across the hallway opening or we're going to have to baby-proof the kitchen and dining room."

"Good point. We'll get one tomorrow at Costco when we do our shopping, or we'll stop by Target on the way back. We'll research them this evening when they're asleep."

* * *

Later that evening, they were snuggled up on the couch together listening to music and reading. Kurt was reading a website about sleeping schedules.

"I think while we're home over break, we should try to adjust their sleeping schedules. Rose is refusing her afternoon nap, but then being fussy after dinner a lot earlier than before. I think she's ready to make the three naps to two naps switch. I don't know if Aliza is ready, but we can try it. It will give us more time in the evening to do schoolwork once school starts. We'd shift some of their after-dinner playtime to when they've been taking their third nap."

"Can I see?"

Sebastian took the iPad from him and read through the article. "It's worth a shot. She is getting fussy and hard to put down for her third nap."

"We can try starting tomorrow, unless they fall asleep on the way back from your grandparents'."

"What are you going to teach Aliza to call your parents and what about Rose?"

"I already told my dad that you and Rose are family now, whether he's ready to accept it or not, I don't know. You know that Carole chose 'Mimi' already. Your grandparents are 'Grandma and Grandpa'. Do they want Aliza to call them that as well?"

"I hadn't thought about it, but I assume so."

"So, it's just my dad that needs to pick." Kurt took the iPad from Sebastian, put it to sleep, and placed it on the cushion one over from where he was sitting. He snuggled in closer to Sebastian. "I really like our room. The new bed is really comfortable and I've determined that I really like snuggling."

"Mmm. Me too."

"Ready to work on our shopping list?" Kurt tipped his head up and looked at Sebastian.

"Not quite yet. Kissing, and then the shopping list." He pressed his lips to Kurt's who hummed happily and kissed back.

"Good plan."

* * *

Since they were both tired from all of the stuff they had worked on all week, they decided to forgo the movie they had considered watching. Kurt made them hot chocolate while Sebastian was in the shower.

"Ready to look at posters?" Sebastian asked when he came back in from the bathroom.

"Almost." He grabbed the two insulated travel mugs he had put the hot chocolate in and handed one of them to Sebastian. He reached for his iPad as well.

"What's this?" Sebastian took a sip. "Mmm. Your fabulous homemade hot chocolate. You know how much I love this. Thanks."

"You're welcome." He took a sip of his and sat it on the shelf next to him and started searching for Art Deco posters.

Sebastian lifted his arm and put it around Kurt's shoulders so he could scoot closer. He leaned in and kissed him on the temple. They spent quite a while looking through their options before making any decisions. Once they had made their selections, Sebastian filled in all of the shipping while Kurt took the insulated mugs back to the kitchen and washed them.

When he came back, he turned some slow jazz instrumental music on low, got in bed, and lay on his back waiting on Sebastian to finish up. Once he did, he turned off the lamp on his side of the bed and got under the covers.

"Come snuggle with me?"

Sebastian didn't need to be asked twice and scooted closer to Kurt.

"You can put your head on my chest, if you want. I can turn over too, if you'd rather me be the little spoon."

He didn't answer. He just scooted even closer.

Kurt wrapped his arm around Sebastian's shoulders and kissed him on top of the head. "I love you, Bas." He ran his hand up and down Sebastian's arm. "Are you okay like this?"

"It's great. It's something I had wondered about, but with no experience, I really had no idea whether I would enjoy snuggling like this or whether I would just feel silly. So many guys talked about snuggling with their girlfriends like it was some kind of chore and how all they felt the whole time they were snuggling was frustrated because they weren't having sex. But I think those guys must have been doing it all wrong or something because I definitely love it. 10/10 – would recommend."

Kurt chuckled. "I always thought I'd be uncomfortable with it because I'm not used to being touched, especially not kindly. But I've changed my mind. I love it too – with you. I feel comfortable. It's really nice." He continued to stroke Sebastian's arm.

Sebastian didn't ask the question that came to mind about why Kurt had never snuggled Blaine. He didn't want to bring it up and he wouldn't, but it did intrigue him. He tipped his head back and reached out and ran his fingers along Kurt's jaw, guiding Kurt's face towards his and kissed him. "I love you." He didn't know where to put it afterwards though and just rested it on his side.

"Mmm." Kurt hummed. "I love you too. If you don't like the music, you can change it."

"I like it. It's soothing."

Kurt noticed that Sebastian had his arm lying down his own side with his hand on his thigh. "You can put your arm on me, if you want. You don't have to, though."

"I didn't want to assume."

"I'm comfortable with you putting your arm around me or on my chest. If I don't like where it ends up when we're asleep or it's bothering me, I can move it. You can put your leg on or over mine. However you're comfortable. And if that's how you're lying now, then that's fine. I really like being close to you, but I won't push you. I just didn't want you to hold back on my account."

"So, that's an open invitation to a full-body snuggle?"

Kurt snorted. "Yes, Bas. We can snuggle any way you're comfortable."

"Well, that sounds like a challenge to figure out all of the best snuggle positions. Challenge accepted." He moved his arm and put it across Kurt's chest with his hand against the side of Kurt's neck. He ran his thumb along Kurt's cheek to his lips. "Mmm. Some very kissable lips here." He slipped his right leg over Kurt's and nudged Kurt's left leg with his knee.

"Is that a hint?"

"Can I try slipping my leg under yours?"

Kurt bent his knee, giving Sebastian room to slip his leg under his own. He tilted his head back again and turned Kurt's face towards his and kissed him. "How's this?"

"I like it."

"Me too." He went back to kissing Kurt.


	14. Chapter 14

Westerville

The four of them were greeted with warm hugs late Saturday morning when they arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Smythe's. They hung all of their coats up and went into the living room.

Richard said, "We know you don't really get a chance to go out just the two of you very often, you could have a nice lunch out before you do your shopping."

"We usually eat lunch with the two of you," Sebastian said. "We could all go out together if you don't have anything we can make here. We come to spend time with you."

She smiled and nodded. "We know, dear. We just wanted to offer."

"We get time alone," Sebastian said. "Don't worry. We put them down for bed in the evening and spend time talking when they're asleep. We're lucky they sleep so regularly."

"I got our double-twelve dominoes out, or we can play Euchre again," Richard said.

"How about both?" Kurt said.

They played for a couple of hours, and then they ate lunch together. Once the girls were asleep, Kurt and Sebastian left to run their errands and do their bi-weekly shopping. When they came back to pick them up, they followed Dotty, who was holding Aliza, into the living room. Richard had Rose in his lap on the love seat and was holding the book they had obviously been reading. Kurt and Sebastian sat down on the couch. Dotty sat back down next to Richard and they finished the story.

When they finished, Dotty pointed to a tissue-paper wrapped gift under the tree. "Go ahead and open that."

Sebastian got up and grabbed it. He sat back down and unwrapped it to find two adorable winter outfits for the girls. They both had fuchsia and lime green long-sleeved fleece ruffle-skirted baby doll tops with snowmen on them and black and white leggings. They weren't identical, but they went together. Aliza's pants were zebra patterned and Rose's were black with white polka dots. Both pairs of leggings had fuchsia and lime green ruffles around the ankles as well.

"Thank you," Kurt said. "These are adorable. I love how colorful they are and whimsical too. The ruffles are great. I may have to add ruffles to some of their shirts and other leggings. They wouldn't get in the way of crawling, and they're really cute."

"I wanted to get them something that would last all winter and not look out-of-season next week. There were lots of cute little elf outfits and ones with Christmas trees and stuff, but these can be worn all winter."

"They're perfect," Kurt laid them out and looked at them again.

"Thank you, Grandma," Sebastian said.

"You're both welcome. We love these two sweethearts. We were so excited when we found out about Rose. And then we got another surprise with Aliza. They're both just so wonderful to have around. I love watching babies and children discover the world. We get old and jaded and forget the wonder all around us. Watching them brings some of that wonder back."

"I hadn't really thought about it like that, but you're right," Sebastian said.

"You two are young enough that you haven't completely lost it," she said. "You're still learning about yourselves and the world. Unfortunately, the two of you have already dealt with soul-injuring losses at such young ages. I can still see your eyes light up around these two. And each other." She winked. "I was so glad when Sebastian told me that you two are together now. I could see how you looked at each other and I knew, but I'm glad you two figured it out. We just want you to know that we're here for both of you, if you ever want or need to talk. Sebastian hasn't said much about your family other than that you lost your mom very young, but we've come to love you and Aliza and we want you to consider us family."

"Thank you, really. That means a lot to me." Kurt nodded and wiped his eyes. "My dad remarried Carole a little over three years ago, when I was a junior in high school. She had a son in the same grade as I was in. He died last spring, so things have been rough. Her extended family is homophobic. She and my dad are at her family's Christmas celebrations this weekend."

"I see. Well it's her family's loss to not get to be a part of your lives. If you two ever have time to come to any of our extended family events, you'll be welcomed. Everyone's known that Sebastian was gay since ages ago and all anyone ever wanted was for him to be happy – single or with a partner. Him being gay didn't change anything within our family, but everyone who knew about it was upset about how much he was bullied in middle school. We missed him when he went to France, but we were glad that he wasn't getting bullied there."

"I transferred to Dalton for half of my junior year because of bullying."

"That's a shame. Dalton is a great school, but having to leave a school because bullying is that bad is such a poor reflection on the school's leadership."

"It is. It's not really gotten that much better, the leadership I mean. The new football coach made more of a difference than the actual school administration ever did. My senior year was better as far as the bullying went. And one of the bullies transferred to a different school, but had reformed before that along with a couple of others. The rest of the worst of them graduated. I would imagine that this year has been a lot better since the current upperclassmen came into the school after the new coach took over."

"Well, that's something to be glad about. I'm assuming that it was the football players that caused most of the trouble since you mentioned that getting a new football coach made a big difference," Richard said.

"It was a combination of the football and the hockey players. Several of the football players joined the Glee Club, which infuriated the rest of the team. The guys at the top of the social ladder weren't supposed to fraternize with the losers in the Glee Club. It was dumb. I was glad they joined and wary at the same time. Some of them had been at the top of the bullying offenders list, but they gave it up when they joined the Glee Club. Sometimes I wonder how things would have been different if my dad could have afforded to keep me at Dalton. Sebastian and I would have met in different circumstances. So many 'what if's without the ability to know the outcome."

Dotty said, "Life is full of 'what if's, but we only get one shot at each day, so we just have to face whatever comes the best we can."

"That's true," Kurt said. "We can do a lot of planning and have all of it go up in smoke in a flash."

Sebastian said, "Sometimes amazing things roll in behind flash of smoke, even though the smoke is still burning our eyes."

Dotty nodded. She crinkled her nose up. "I have something to take care of." She stood up and Richard followed her with Rose.

Sebastian reached out for Kurt's hand and squeezed it. "Sorry all of that got brought up."

He squeezed back. "It's okay. It's part of the past. As long as they don't start treating me like I need sympathy, I'll be fine. It was what it was. It was awful and miserable, but that's not how my life is now. I actually really enjoy my life now."

"Me too." He leaned towards Kurt and kissed him.

* * *

Later that afternoon, they were back at home in the garage working on their next project. "I think this going to work out in the laundry room really well. The one hanging rack over the washer and dryer was too low. I'm glad you had it moved up," Kurt said, as he painted a wood shelf white.

"My parents practically never used that rack to hang clothes on. My dad had his shirts cleaned and my mom's dresses were obviously too long to hang from the rack. Maybe she had them cleaned too or she hung them in her room? I'm not sure." Sebastian was painting a side support. "I like these. You can use the center sections to hang pieces you're working on and these narrow side shelves will give us a place to store stuff that we have in the garage and keep us from having to reset the alarm as often. And there's still plenty of room for you to use the ironing board easily."

"I also really like the addition of the countertop over the top of the washer and dryer you had the contractor install. That will save me a lot of time fishing tiny socks out from behind the washer and dryer."

"And save your poor head."

"Yeah."

"I vaguely remember my mom having a table in there when I was younger. She must have used that to fold clothes and sort socks on. I like the countertop a lot better because it's definitely taller than a table would be. I like the way the whole system will work once we get all of these pieces painted and in place in there. We'll have a place to have our coats when they're wet. A lot of improvements with just a few pieces."

"Maybe we can get it all put together Monday morning."

"I think we'll be able to. We're going with a roast and vegetables for the Christmas meal because you said that's what your dad is used to, so that will be super easy."

"A easy meal will give us more time to make some fun desserts. My dad seemed annoyed when I said I wanted diapers for Christmas. He wanted me to tell him something that I wanted. I can't think of anything that I want right now, but I've always gotten him and all of my friends gifts for Christmas every year. It just seems so weird to not be shopping for any of them this year."

"I hadn't really ever thought about it since the gift giving was never something I really participated in. My parents didn't pine for things or make lists of things they wanted, but couldn't have. They could have bought themselves anything they wanted to, and they did. It's just that they weren't the type of people that wanted a lot of stuff. They bought things to replace things that broke and couldn't be repaired. If they needed something for an event, they bought it, but they also let things go and didn't accumulate unneeded items. I never felt the pressure of buying the right gift or trying to get something really nice on a small budget. My dad was good at the art of giving gifts though. He'd stop by the florist and bring home a single flower and my mom would put it in that vase that holds just one stem. He'd surprise her randomly by bringing home a single slice of cake from her favorite bakery and then she'd insist that he eat half of it with her."

"I see where you learned from – bringing me my favorite bagel and cream cheese or a cup of coffee or renting a movie you think I'd like."

"I saw how much those little things meant to her. It wasn't the $2 flower or the $3 slice of cake. It was that my dad had been thinking about her and showed it in the little things he did."

"I used to do those types of things for my dad. There'd be something around the house that needed done that I could do and I'd do it before he got home from work, so he'd be able come home and relax. Little things. But since I don't live with him anymore, that's hard to do. He never did those kinds of things as far as I can remember, but he might have for my mom. He always wanted a detailed list from me and he'd chose things from the list."

"So, your penchant for doing my laundry and prepping things for my night to cook wasn't from your dad's example. It was your own doing."

"Yeah. I never had access to any money when I was younger, so I had to be more creative with acts of service as gifts rather than physical gifts."

"Well, it's really sweet and I really do appreciate it when you do things for me out of love."

Kurt smiled and blushed a bit. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"You're the first person to say anything nice about me doing things for you."

"Oh."

"You always thank me at the time, so it's not that I didn't know you were appreciative." Kurt kept painting.

They heard babbling from the baby monitor. "Pa-pa. Pa-pa. Am-Am. Da-da." Followed by more indistinguishable words.

"Well, Rose is awake. I'll go take care of both of them. You can keep working on the shelves. Maybe we can still get all of the tops done today. We'll leave the fan on to keep the air circulating overnight." He stepped towards Kurt and leaned over the board carefully and kissed him before he washed his hands so he could go inside to take care of the girls.

* * *

Sebastian changed their diapers and put them in the playard with some of their toys while he danced around the kitchen and sang for them as he emptied the dishwasher.

Rose crawled around and bounced on her hands and clapped sometimes, clearly enjoying Sebastian's show. Aliza sat and watched and clapped and babbled, laughing at his antics.

"Oh, you think I'm funny, do you?" He picked Rose up and danced around with her, twirling and singing nonsense songs. He put her back down and picked Aliza up and did the same.

Kurt opened the door from the garage to check on them and caught Sebastian picking Aliza back up and kissing her on each cheek and singing a made up song about how beautiful and smart she was. Kurt's heart swelled to see that Sebastian really did care for Aliza. It was far from the first time he'd seen him care for her with love and affection, but just hearing him sing such an affirming song to her made his eyes fill with happy tears. He shut the door back and went back to finishing the last of the shelves before he went back inside.

"Do you want to go back out after dinner or try going out tomorrow, like after their first nap?" Kurt asked when he came back into the dining room after cleaning the paint off of it his hands.

"Let's go tomorrow because we didn't get to copy the comic book covers and the playbills. And we can get the frames we need for our room. We can go after I put the second coat on the side pieces and you get a first coat on the undersides of the shelves."

"Works for me. I'm going to grab the fabric out of the dryer and iron it so I can recover the bench."

"Need help?"

"Sure."

* * *

Kurt got up and grabbed his phone when it started to ring. He slid his thumb across to answer.

"Hey, Sam!"

"Hey to you too. So, this coming weekend? Are we still on?"

"Definitely on my end."

"Alright then. I'll leave after breakfast on Friday, if that's okay."

"Sure. I have an art project I need help with when you get here. Can you pack some clothes you don't mind possibly getting a little paint on?"

"Sure thing. Now, I'm curious. What are we painting?"

"You'll see. It's not hard. Well, not for you. But it's out of my skill range it seems. I have the basics, but feel free to bring brushes that you like. I bought acrylic paints."

"Got it. I'll bring my paintbrushes and a palette. Anything else unusual I should bring?"

"Just yourself. I miss you."

"Are you saying that I'm unusual?"

"Most certainly. You're friends with me. That definitely makes you unusual."

"Nah. That makes me lucky."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Stop rolling your eyes."

"You know me so well."

"I gotta go. We're in Tennessee and I'm being hollered for by one of my cousins."

"Have fun! See you Friday."

"See ya!"

* * *

When Sebastian came out of the bathroom, Kurt was sitting on their new love seat with his feet propped up on the bench to the vanity. "Sam called while you were in the shower. He says he'll be here Friday at lunchtime."

Sebastian sat down next to him. "Sounds good to me. That gives him enough time to decide whether he wants to stay or leave without having to drive back in the dark. From everything you've said about him, I expect that he'll stay. But I wouldn't put it past him to figure it out like I did."

"I don't want that to happen. That's the one thing I really don't want to deal with, but you might be right. I need to think about that scenario. And I guess you need to think about what you want him to know. If we were straight, no one would question us that much. A couple of one-night stands gone wrong or the mother dying in childbirth would be the first thing that comes to people's minds, but for two gay guys as young as we are to have babies already goes against everything every typical person would be willing to just overlook. I mean if we were older, like 25 or something, and established in our careers, and perhaps engaged or married already, people might be more willing to accept that we hired surrogates to have kids."

"I know, but I'm hoping after a few years, we'll look old enough that people won't question us and they'll just think we look young for our ages. You know, like they'll assume that were 30 and just look 25 when we enroll them for kindergarten somewhere."

"I barely pass for a college student and I'm 20. Somehow I don't think that being mistaken for younger than I am is going to be a problem. Looking like I'm as old as I am will be problematic. I'll probably still be getting carded to go into bars when I'm 30."

Sebastian chuckled. "You're right though. I need to figure out what I'm going to tell people because people are going to be nosy. We need to have a standard answer that I give every time. The type of bordering-on-smartass comment that lets people know that they're being too nosy, all while sounding light-hearted and mostly polite."

"It's really no one's business, but people are nosy and they will ask. Or they'll make comments like 'You're awfully young to have children.' Or 'How did you have the money to hire a surrogate so young?' Or a snide remark like you made to me that day at the park about how I managed to convince a girl that I was straight. Or whether this was some kind of pregnancy pact for gay teens."

Sebastian snorted. "That last one is great. I'm totally going to add that one to the list of possibilities."

* * *

Sunday they went out, as planned. They returned with the poster frames, mat board, smaller frames for their collages, the photocopies of the comic book covers and playbills, and some miscellaneous other things from Michael's. After they brought everything inside, they gave the girls their bottles and put them down for their nap.

They went back out to the garage and did a few touch ups on the shelf support pieces they had been working on and put those pieces in the direct flow of the air from the fan.

Afterwards, they went back inside and decided on the layout for the comic book covers and playbill collages they were making. They took the mat board and photocopies out to the garage and used spray fixative to adhere the photocopies where they wanted them. They worked together well, just like they did when they cooked together.

Once everything was glued down like they wanted it, they took the boards back inside. Sebastian grabbed the toolbox on the way in. Kurt left the collages in the study to finish drying. He went to their room to help Sebastian mark the walls where they were going to hang the posters.

Once the girls were up from their nap, they put them in the playard and drilled to put the screw anchors in for the frames. They hung them up empty to get them out of the way until the posters arrived. Kurt took the tools back out to put them away and Sebastian headed to the kitchen to get started on dinner.

* * *

After they finished eating dinner, Kurt said, "I'll go back to painting the shelves after we sing and dance and read. You can read if you want. I know you were getting close to finishing the book you've been reading."

"Nah. I want to do the painting with you. We can shower after we finish, we can snuggle on the love seat and read together in our room."

They kept at it until they had a second coat of white paint on the undersides of all the shelves.

Sebastian said, "That's it – 18 shelves with two coats on each side. We'll leave the fan on again. I'm sure they'll be dry enough to assemble in the laundry room tomorrow morning."

"Let's go in and shower."

"Why don't you go ahead and get started with your shower, and I'll clean these brushes?"

* * *

After the girls' midnight feeding, Kurt couldn't manage to fall back asleep. He started to get out of the bed, but Sebastian wrapped his arms around him tighter.

"I'm just too tense to sleep. I'm going to go make myself a cup of warm milk. I'll be back."

"M'kay." Sebastian kissed the back of his neck before he loosened his grip.

Kurt went to the kitchen and put some milk in a pot to warm it up. He had tried using a microwave a few times, but there was something to the relaxation of it that involved stirring the milk in the pot as part of the process. Once he finished, he washed the pot while the milk cooled enough to drink. He put a dash of cinnamon in and stirred.

He took it with him to the study and worked on the felted snow people that he had gotten at the craft store earlier. He drank the milk and made little scarves and clothes for them.

Once he finished, he put everything away, and went back to bed. He got in as gently as he could, trying not to disturb Sebastian, but he scooted closer as soon as Kurt was on his side.

"Better?"

"Yeah. I just want tomorrow to go well."

"I know. We'll do our best. That's all we can do. Scoot back more so I can hold you close." He waited for Kurt to scoot back into his chest. He kissed the back of Kurt's neck and nuzzled in close. "I love you."

Kurt slipped his fingers under the cuff of Sebastian's thermal shirt and caressed the skin on his wrist. "I love you too."

* * *

Fourth Week of December 2013

Monday morning, they started the roast in the Crock-Pot right after breakfast. They left the girls in their sleepers and put them in the playard while they worked in the laundry room to assemble the shelving they had painted. Once they had it complete, they installed the new walk-thru baby gate across the hall opening on the outer edge of the girls' room and playroom. They closed the girls' bedroom door and put them in the playroom on the floor while they folded up the playard, which they stored in the laundry room. They put the leaf back in the dining room table.

When they had gone through the house the week before, they had found the tablecloths. Kurt ironed the red one and put it on the table. He put the white and silver, snowflake-patterned square placemat and the four felted snow people they had bought in the center of the table. He placed a felted pine tree in the center of the placemat and arranged the two snowmen and the two snow children around it. He hadn't let Sebastian see the outcome of his handiwork yet.

"Hey, Bas?"

He came out of the laundry room, almost done with his task of putting the items on the shelving. "Yeah?"

"Come look."

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind and squeezed gently. "They're cute. You made us into a snow people family. I didn't see you get the tree. When did you make the outfits?"

"I went back for the tree when you were in line. I made the outfits and dressed them last night while I drank the warm milk. It was calming."

"The tree looks good with them. The snow family is really cute. I'm sure the girls will like them too. I'm almost done putting the stuff on the shelves in the laundry room. I'm going to go check on them again before I finish up."

Kurt set the table before he went to look in the laundry room. "Oh, wow. It looks great. Nothing's on the floor. Everything has a place."

"We have a laundry room that looks like it belongs in a magazine." Sebastian kissed Kurt.

"I think it's bee-u-tee-ful," Kurt teased. He wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck. "Thank you."

"For an organized laundry room?"

"Yes, and for making it work for my upcoming projects. You didn't have to, but you did and I appreciate it. It was really sweet."

"You can't keep saying that. People will get the wrong idea."

Kurt kissed him again. "Mmm hmm. Sebastian Smythe – bad boy raspberry blower."

Sebastian chortled, and then quickly changed his expression to looking cocky. "I'm going to have to get a motorcycle," he said resolutely.

"Make sure it's got room for me on the back, and get a second helmet that's black." Kurt pulled him closer and backed him into the laundry room wall and kissed him passionately. "I have a really nice black leather jacket, pants, and boots that will go great with your new motorcycle." He ran his hands through Sebastian's hair and down his chest, pausing with his hands on Sebastian's waist and pressed back into for more kisses.

When they broke for a few seconds to catch their breath, Sebastian said, "Damn, Kurt, you're making me want to go buy one for real."

Kurt kissed along his jaw, towards his ear. "Maybe I'll model the outfit for you sometime since it's not really motorcycle season right now. But right now, we have to go check on the girls." He pecked Sebastian on the lips before he walked back towards the playroom.

Sebastian took a deep breath and willed himself to keep his focus on getting ready for Burt and Carole to come over for lunch.

* * *

While the girls were taking their morning nap, Kurt and Sebastian made an apple pie and cherry crumble. Once the pie was in the oven, Sebastian made ice tea and Kurt made lemonade.

Once those were chilling, Kurt started to work on the drop biscuits so they would ready to put in the oven when Burt and Carole arrived, so they could serve them hot.

Sebastian pulled the roast out, added the carrots, celery, and sliced potatoes to the Crock-Pot, put the roast back in and put the lid back on.

Kurt washed his hands and looked around. "Anything else you can think of?"

Sebastian finished wiping down the counter. "Other than changing into something nicer, no." He put his hands on Kurt's waist. "I'm not sure how to act with them here. Is there anything don't want me to do?"

"No. I want you to be yourself." He cupped Sebastian's face and looked him in the eyes. "I love you just the way you are. I don't want you to feel like you have to pretend around my family. You already know the issues that are going on. We'll just have to see how things go. If they seem to be enjoying themselves, we can offer to watch a Christmas movie with them, like _Miracle on 34_ _th_ _Street_ or _The Santa Clause_ or whatever Carole wants. But if Carole seems stressed and distant, we can just open the gifts after we eat, and they can head home after dessert." He kissed him gently. "We're both tense." He wrapped his arms around his back and held him close. He ran his right hand up and down Sebastian's back soothingly. "Whenever they go home, we'll snuggle."

"Sounds nice. How about some dancing? We can take the leaf back out of the table and move it towards the living room and dance."

"Mmm. Definitely a good idea. We've danced around with the girls, but never really just the two of us slow dancing."

"Well, that will have to be remedied – today." He took a deep breath and let it out.

They were surprised when someone knocked on the front door. Sebastian went to the door and looked out the peephole to find the UPS driver standing on the front porch. He opened the door and signed for the packages. He thanked him and handed the packages to Kurt.

"That was quick. I didn't think these would arrive until later in the week."

"I selected Priority Shipping, but I didn't think they'd arrive until after Christmas. We can put them in the frames and get them hung pretty quickly since the frames are already on the walls."

They opened the poster shipping tubes to double-check that they had received the correct posters, and then took the posters to their room. They took frames down and cleaned the acrylic. They framed the collages in the study and took them to their room. They put the posters in the frames next, and then hung all four finished pieces.

"Is it straight?" Sebastian asked, as he hung the last frame.

"Down a little to the left."

Sebastian moved it slightly and waited.

"Yeah, like that."

Once they were up, they stood together near the center of the room and looked as they turned slowly.

"I like all of them," Kurt said.

"Me too. Let's get ready and change. They'll be here in about 30 minutes, unless they run into traffic somewhere."

* * *

Sebastian changed his shirt in the bathroom and fixed his hair. Afterwards, he brought what he had been wearing into the closet before Kurt had come back out.

Kurt looked towards the door when Sebastian stepped in. "That looks nice," Kurt said.

"Thanks." He hung his hoodie up, and then kissed Kurt. "You look good, as always." Sebastian put his hands on Kurt's waist. "You know all of the jerk-ish things I did as a teenager. Tell me a couple of things you did. You are gorgeous and smart, but I've been on the receiving end of that sword-edged tongue. There have to have been others that got a good tongue-thrashing. You were too good at it for me to have been the first."

Kurt chuckled. "Fine, you win. Once, I asked Rachel if her jowls were going to be Photoshopped out of a yearbook picture that none of us had seen yet."

Sebastian cracked up. "Oh, my God. That's almost better than the Craig's List insult. Almost."

"I gave her a _Grease_ makeover."

"You dressed her up slutty?"

Kurt nodded. "Cat suit, make up, teased hair."

"I would have paid good money for a photo of that a couple of years ago."

"As I recall, a couple of years ago, you were Photoshopping an inappropriately small dick on a photo of Finn in heels."

"So dumb, but I want to know how YOU knew it was inappropriately small. Berry, yeah. I assumed they were sleeping together, but you?" Sebastian teased him.

"I'm pretty sure that I've told you that McKinley has open shower stalls in the guys' locker room. I did have to take gym with the other guys in my grade, you know? And I was on the football team for a while and I was a cheerleader during basketball season."

"Good answer." He smirked at Kurt before breaking out in a full smile. "But in all honesty, if she had dropped out, someone else would have gotten a turn in the limelight."

"It still wouldn't have been me." Kurt shook his head. "Enough reminiscing. I will say 'thank you' to your compliment." He pecked Sebastian on the lips.

"I hope one day soon, you actually believe me instead of just thanking me." Sebastian took the opportunity and pressed Kurt into the wall and kissed him until they were breathless.

As Kurt caught his breath, he said, "Keep kissing me like that, and it won't take long."

"Ah, a mission I can complete." He kissed Kurt again.

The doorbell rang.

Sebastian sighed and stepped back. "Come on. Your parents await."

Kurt smiled and pecked him on the lips again before he left the closet. Sebastian put his hands on Kurt's hips and followed behind him like a 2-person Conga line, which succeeded in getting Kurt to smile and relax just a bit.


	15. Chapter 15

Kurt opened the door and let Burt and Carole in. He put their coats in the closet while Sebastian reset the alarm.

Burt pulled Kurt into a hug. "It's good to see you, kiddo."

"It's good to see you too, Dad."

The doorbell had woken the girls up because Kurt could hear them babbling in their room.

"We'll go get them," Sebastian said.

"I can help Kurt, if that's okay," Carole said.

"Sure."

"I'll just pop the biscuits in the oven," Sebastian said, as he headed the opposite direction. He opened the oven and put the tray in.

Burt followed him into the kitchen. "You're serious about my boy?"

"Yes. I love him and Aliza."

"Good. He doesn't need anymore nonsense of guys who think they can do whatever they want and he will just forgive them and they can keep on screwing up."

"Right. I get that. I like him as a person and I enjoy spending time with him. He's funny and smart and I already told you that I love him. I've never had a boyfriend or been in love with anyone before. I'm not playing Kurt or using him somehow."

"I didn't say anything at Thanksgiving, but I met your dad. He was a good guy from what I could tell. He talked about you. Well, more like bragged. He was proud of you. So was your mom. She showed me a picture of you and told me how you were on your way to Columbia this fall like your dad, but instead of law, you were going to study architecture like her. That was back before she had Rose."

"Thanks for telling me that. I miss them."

"I'm sure you do. I love Carole dearly, but I still miss Kurt's mom. And I miss Finn. We've all had a rough year. I hope this next one is better."

"In the midst of the sadness, Kurt came back into my life and that's made a huge difference for me. First, just his friendship, and now more. I have no intention of doing anything to lose him. He's special."

"He is. He said you had work done before he came and picked up the rest of his stuff."

"I did. I had a contractor come in to do some painting, a few minor improvements, and some carpentry. The crew did an excellent job, and they were polite, timely, and non-judgmental."

"Sounds like it went well."

"It did. Do you want to see?"

"Sure."

Sebastian took Burt into the study first and showed him the work on the desks and the Murphy bed. Next they stepped into the girls' room, where Kurt was finishing up changing Rose's clothes to the dresses that Carole had gotten them. Rose's was a deep magenta and Aliza's was plum, like their teddy bear coats. They had on mock turtleneck bodysuits with a tiny flower print on a black background, leggings with the same print, and black socks with lace.

"Those dresses are beautiful," Sebastian said.

Carole was holding Aliza. "I'm glad you like them."

Sebastian said, "Your dad was interested in the work we had done. I showed him the study. Next is the playroom." He stepped back out and across the hallway. He turned the overhead light on and stepped inside. "We turned this room into their playroom."

Carole came in behind them. "The orange love seat is fun."

Kurt nodded. "We're going to hang some sea life paintings in here once we get them done."

"I see that you put the valance and pillows in here. Sea-themed paintings will look cute with those and the pale aqua walls," she said.

The oven timer began to beep. Sebastian went to pull the biscuits out. Burt followed him.

"I'll show you the study," Kurt said to Carole, as they got near the door.

She followed him in. "Sebastian had a Murphy bed console built so we'd have more floor space to work in here, but we can still use the room as a guest room. He had our desks and chairs stained and painted to match with everything."

"It's a nice mix. These paintings are lovely."

"I like them a lot too." He headed back out to the hallway.

Sebastian said, "Everything's ready. Let's go ahead and eat."

* * *

They gave Burt and Carole a quick tour of the laundry room and the master suite before dessert. Once they were back in the kitchen, Carole took Sebastian out to her car to bring in their gifts.

Kurt looked at Burt. "Something's on your mind."

Burt nodded. "Yeah, I guess I just wasn't prepared to see you sharing a room with Sebastian when you've only been a couple for just over a week."

"Oh, I'm not sure what to say about that. I would never have dared to ask you about that part of your relationship with Carole, so I expect the same adult treatment. There's not much else to say. We've both been of consenting age for nearly four years."

"Right. I know. It's just a big leap for me. You're here living like a married couple now."

"Why does that bother you? I thought you'd be happy that I've found someone who loves me and Aliza."

"I am. I really am. I'll get over the shock. I promise. I'm glad you're happy."

Sebastian opened the door. "Close your eyes, Kurt." He let Carole go in first, and then came the rest of the way in himself. He put what he had carried in just past the door to the garage. He reset the alarm.

"What Sebastian brought in isn't a Christmas present. It's for school." Carole put what she had on the table. She stepped back so that Kurt could see what Sebastian had brought in. "Open your eyes," she said.

Kurt looked up. He rushed out of his seat to go look at the adjustable dress form. "It's perfect." He looked it over. "This will be great for my class. It's a lot nicer than the one I had in New York. Thank you. I'm going to put it in the study. I'll be right back."

When he came back in, Carole had moved the two gift bags next to the high chairs.

"Go ahead and open the girls toys so they can play with them while we open ours and eat dessert," Carole said.

Sebastian opened Rose's bag.

"I washed everything before I packed it up, so they could play with them."

He pulled out a stuffed doll with a bubblegum pink sleeper, a purple neckerchief, and a matching pink hat with striped pink and purple trim. Kurt reached over and pulled the doll out of Aliza's bag. Hers was wearing an aqua blue sleeper with a lime green neckerchief, and matching hat with the striped edging in aqua and lime green.

Carole said, "I know the blue one is supposed to be a boy, but honestly other than the clothing color and the fact that the blue one's face has freckles and brown eyes instead of blue eyes, they look identical. I thought you could embroider some flowers or something on the neckerchief to make the aqua one look more girly. If it had come in lavender I would have bought that, but I knew having two the same color would not end well."

Kurt smiled. "I will give her a little feminine touch. It's fine really. It's definitely better to have them easily identified. And you said you washed them?"

"That's why I picked them. They looked the most like real babies for a completely machine washable toy that I could find."

"They're adorable," Kurt said. "We'll name them and I'll embroider their names on their neckerchiefs. How about Abby for Rose's doll and DeeDee for Aliza's? Rose can already make the B sound, and D is one of the first sounds Aliza will be making soon."

"Cute names," Carole said. "And good reasons for them."

Sebastian pulled out stacking rings. Kurt pulled out stacking cups.

"I know those may be a little hard yet, but there's one more thing in each bag they can play with right now."

Kurt pulled out the cutest rainbow colored firefly with different textures and activities on its wings. He put it on Aliza's tray, and she grabbed for it.

"Well, that one's a hit," Burt said.

Sebastian pulled out a brightly colored fish with fins that had different textures. He put it on Rose's tray, and she snatched it and started playing with it.

"Two for two. You can't beat that," Burt watched them both examine their colorful, crinkling, textured toys.

Kurt reached over to Aliza's high chair and fastened the toy leash through the grommet. Sebastian did the same to Rose's.

"I wondered why they both had grommets in them," Burt said. "Now, I see," he said, as he chuckled. "They keep them from being able to throw them on the floor. Good invention."

"We have them on their strollers and carriers too. It saves having to take more than a couple of toys with us because we can keep them from ending up on the ground or the floor," Sebastian said.

Kurt got up to slice up the desserts. They all got up and served themselves and sat back down.

He and Sebastian tore the paper off of the fairly large box together.

Kurt looked at the writing on the box. "Instant Pot?"

"They're all the rage," Carole said. "They do everything. They work like a Crock-Pot, a pressure cooker, a rice maker, a yogurt maker, which I thought might be a nice feature since you like yogurt so much. I forget what the other features are."

"It sounds amazing," Sebastian said. "Thank you."

Kurt was looking over the list on the box. "It looks really cool. I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of it. Thanks."

Carole picked up the last gift on the table and unwrapped it. She looked at it, but the title didn't ring a bell.

"It's the cookbook we used to make all of the dishes at Thanksgiving. The one I was telling you about that had only recipes for dishes that could be frozen and reheated and still taste good."

"Oh, I remember. That's perfect. I'll take it with me to DC the next time I go. That way I can cook up a bunch of the things from it and leave them for Burt."

"My taste buds and wallet thank you. To eat the way I'm supposed to costs more than I like to spend. I'll see if any of them are Burt-proof. Maybe I can learn to make a few of them myself."

"We'll work on it," Carole said.

Kurt got up and began to clear the table. "Would you like to take some dessert home with you for later? I can pack up some to send with you."

"Yeah, I would," Burt answered.

"Me too," Carole stated. "I'd like some of both. They were really good."

"Thanks," Sebastian said. "Kurt's been a really good teacher. I didn't know how to cook anything. I just warmed up leftovers from take out mostly. Or I had a can of soup or a sandwich."

Kurt said, "You can go ahead and get them out of the high chairs if you want. You can take them in the playroom or the living room. We can watch a movie if you want, or we can just sit around and talk. We'll be done with this in just a minute. There's an animal sounds book on their shelf that Rose is really into these days. She's trying out her ability to imitate all of the sounds."

They opted for the playroom. Carole found the book. They sat down close together like Kurt had shown Carole, and she read the book to both girls. And just as Kurt had said, Rose did her very best to imitate all of the sounds. They read it a second time because it was fun to listen to her try. Aliza clapped and kicked her feet in excitement at everyone making funny sounds.

While they were reading in the playroom, Kurt and Sebastian loaded the dishwasher and packed up the leftovers and the desserts. Sebastian started the dishwasher with a 2-hour delay.

Kurt waited for him to stand up from putting the dishwasher soap under the sink before stepping closer. He put his hands on Sebastian's waist and kissed him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Lots of things, but specifically for saying that I'm a good teacher. I've wondered. I tried to teach my dad to cook. He'd just say things like, 'It's better if you do it.' 'You're just better at it than me.' And 'Even when you show me I just can't get it.' I just appreciate that you paid attention, worked at it, and learned to do things for yourself, not because I don't want to do things for you, but it just somehow feels really good to know that I'm not terrible at teaching since that's what I'm studying to do now."

"You're a good teacher. Really. I honestly think your dad just didn't want to do it, so didn't really put his best effort into it."

"That's what I always figured. He'd bake or cook with me sometimes just to spend time with me, but he didn't really want to learn to do it on his own."

Sebastian kissed him. "I like to spend time with you too, but I pay attention."

"I appreciate that. Let's go see whether they want to stay or whether they're ready to go." Kurt took Sebastian's hand and walked back to the playroom. He wrapped his arm around Sebastian's waist as they stood in the doorway. "What did you decide?"

"How much longer will they be awake?"

"Until about 4:00. We've moved them to two naps, which seems to be working so far."

"It's not below freezing out today. Do you think we could take them out for a walk?" Carole asked.

"Sure."

* * *

They all got bundled up, put the girls in their strollers, and went out for a walk around the neighborhood. The sidewalk was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Carole took Aliza and got Sebastian to walk with her. Kurt and Burt followed behind with Rose.

Carole said, "Kurt said that you already know that Aliza is Finn's daughter."

"Yeah. That's all I know though. I haven't asked beyond that. My assumption is that when the mother found out that he had died that she came to you and told you about the baby. I figure that Kurt agreed to raise her since you and Burt aren't really in the position to do it, and he didn't want her to end up being put up for adoption by the birth mother."

"That's pretty accurate. It's been harder than I had imagined. I know you understand. You lost your parents. No one so young should have to go through that. And you've stepped up to raise your sister. From everything I can see, both of you are doing an amazing job. I know that I'm messed up. I'm going to start to see someone. Hopefully by this summer, I won't have to pretend to be okay as much as I do now. The hardest part about this besides losing Finn has been dealing with prejudice firsthand for the first time. It's easy to say that we sympathize with people who are discriminated against, but when it affects you personally, it's different. If Finn were alive, Aliza would have had this big extended family who would love her unconditionally."

Sebastian interrupted her. "Unless she turned out to be a lesbian or bisexual with a same gender partner or transgender."

"You're right. If she turned out to be any of those things, they would turn their backs on her. It sounds stupid, but I really didn't know how homophobic they were until I married Burt. It was just one of those topics none of them ever talked about, you know like the language that some group of people far away speak. Everyone knows people speak languages that practically no one outside of the group has ever heard, but no one talks about it – ever. That's how sexuality was in my family. It was just never discussed. I had no idea how many of them were secretly homophobic until they asked me not to bring Kurt to our Christmas gatherings, or any other family gatherings. Honestly though, I'm feeling a little better today. I was really in a funk when Kurt came to stay. It was right after all of this stuff had really hit me. Until then, I had still been thinking about how much fun Christmas with my family was going to be despite Finn being gone. When I realized that I wasn't going to have that with her, I just broke down. Burt told me that your grandparents love and accept you. I'm fine with you and Kurt. I'm a love-is-love person. Just from watching you today, I can see how much you love both Kurt and Aliza. I didn't expect him to be so self-reliant, but I should have known better. He is a man of his word. He agreed to raise her as his own, and he is. And he's found you. I'm really glad for both of you. I hope that we can be friends."

"Of course."

"Thanks. I can't promise to be of any help, but if you ever just want someone to talk to, I'd be glad to listen. Sometimes I wake up and the instant I open my eyes, I begin to cry because my dreams were so real and we were in Lima and Finn was alive. And opening my eyes just proves that it was all a dream. I don't know if you have those days. Whether you do or don't, becoming a dad at 19 isn't easy. You're doing great. Both of you."

"Thanks."

"I know all of this is new between you and Kurt, but Burt and I would love to be grandparents to Rose as well, if that's alright with you."

Sebastian sniffled and nodded. "Yes. I had hoped that you would."

"You've probably already heard Kurt use the name, but I thought Mimi would be fun. I'm only 41. I'm not really ready to be called Grandma."

"Mimi it is then. What about Burt?"

"You'll have to ask him."

"Fair enough."

"I want you to know something about Kurt."

"What's that?"

"He's a very forgiving person. Finn did some pretty terrible things to him when they were younger, as did Puck, and he forgave both of them. David, too. There were others that did some pretty bad things. I'm just asking you not to take advantage of that like some people have."

"I won't. I know he struggles with trust and I can understand why. I just have to continue to be trustworthy. I'm not perfect, but I won't hurt him on purpose."

"That's all anyone can do. I'd like to try to work out a way where we can come down one weekend a month and spend time with the four of you, even if it's just Sunday breakfast or something. Once you have your schedules figured out for this semester, maybe we can talk about it."

"Sure. We go see my grandparents for a few hours every other Saturday. We eat lunch with them and then do some shopping while the girls stay there and my grandparents dote on them."

"We can come here at first and let the girls get used to us, and then maybe we could have you come to our place some of the time."

"We'll work something out."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I know it was never Kurt's intention to keep her from the two of you. You just started spending most of your time in DC after he moved in with me."

"I know he didn't. I had missed Burt terribly during the three months I was staying in Ohio and watching Aliza and I've missed her the three months I've been going to DC with Burt. I'm hoping to find some middle ground now."

* * *

While Sebastian and Carole were talking, Burt and Kurt talked.

"She wanted to spend some time with Sebastian."

"That's fine. She's trying. I think it's sweet."

"She is. I've made an appointment with a grief counselor in DC."

"I hope it helps."

"Me too. She and I did a lot of talking. She wants to be Rose's grandma too. I know I've done a cruddy job so far, but I'm done with that. These little babies didn't take Finn away or give me cancer."

"That's true. So, what do you want them to call you?"

"You call Sebastian's grandparents 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa', right"?

"Yes, because he's called them that his whole life."

"And his other grandparents?"

"Mamie and Papi."

He thought for a few minutes as they continued to follow along behind Carole and Sebastian. "Alright then, how about Papaw?"

"Sure. How are things in DC?"

"Alright. I have to decide whether I'm going to run for another term soon. I have an appointment late next week for some tests. As long as those all come back fine, I'll run again. I'm still pushing for marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws."

"An endless uphill battle."

"I know, but I intend to do what I can to make it happen." They walked for a couple of minutes before he said anything else. "You're different with Sebastian. It's more like you and Sam, except that Sebastian's gay."

"Yeah. That's true. Sebastian is a big nerd or geek or whatever. He likes comic books and wears super hero pajamas. He's a big Lego fan too. He has a bunch of huge sets. We're going to put one of them together soon."

Burt chuckled.

"I want to ask you something I've never had the nerve to ask."

"This about your mom?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know anything about her family. She had a scholarship to Cincinnati Conservatory. She was just a little more than a semester from graduation when we met. I asked her to marry me the day after she graduated. We got married at the courthouse a few weeks later."

"How did you two even meet if she was going to school in Cincinnati?"

"She was driving through Lima in November to go to some event in Toledo and her car broke down. She was crying and upset because she had to go to the event for a class. If she didn't go, she couldn't write some paper. I offered to drive her to Toledo myself, which I did. She probably only accepted out of sheer desperation to not get an F on her paper. But we hit it off. I waited for her event to be over and drove her back to Lima. She had planned on staying in a hotel in Toledo, but cancelled and stayed at a place in Lima instead. I went in the next morning and finished her car up and took her out to breakfast. We met in Dayton for dates. I fell hard and fast. She was just amazing. I wish you could remember her better."

"Me too. I still watch the videos."

"The rest of what I'm going to say is me relying on my memory from about 20 years ago when she told me this just once. She did leave you a sealed envelope to give to you whenever you began to ask questions. I'll get it to you. I don't want to mail it and risk it getting lost. Here's what I remember. She was living in Quebec, but her parents were French. I know nothing about her parents or family. She never spoke about them."

"If she studied music of some sort, why was she a French teacher?"

"She studied Musical Theatre. When she moved to Lima with me, she still auditioned for roles in Toledo and Columbus. She got several, but she also went to OSU Lima and took whatever classes she needed to be able to teach. She eventually got tired of the commute. She tried to get a position as a music teacher, but no one was hiring. This part is fuzzy because I don't really know what she did, but she did something so that she could teach French when you were a baby. She went to school in the evenings after I came home from work. She got hired on at North Lima to teach French."

"This has to do with why you're upset with me about leaving New York."

He nodded. "I felt guilty. She had trained to be a stage performer, and that's what she really wanted to do. By insisting on keeping my dad's shop, I tied her to an area where she couldn't do what she wanted."

"Did she seem upset about it?"

"She said she liked being a teacher."

"But you think she was just saying that?"

"Sometimes. I don't want to call her a liar, but it's just hard to believe that she was okay with giving up what she had trained to do to live in Lima with me."

"She loved you. She loved me. I don't see anything in the videos of all of us that indicate that she was anything but happy with her life."

"I hope that's true. I loved her so much, Kurt."

"I know. I need you to believe me, Dad. I'm happier here in Dublin with Aliza, Sebastian, and Rose than I was in New York. Maybe if I had cut my Lima ties, it would have been different. But constantly being around Rachel, and then Santana – that was not letting me live the New York life I had dreamed of. I'm happy here. I like my classes. Maybe this isn't what I had dreamed of, but maybe it can be just as good or better than my dream. I have someone who genuinely loves me. No manipulation, no pushing me to the background, no gaslighting. And I told you that Sebastian wants to go to New York still. By the time he finishes school here, both girls will be old enough for pre-K if we go to New York then. If we stay here for an additional year past when he graduates, the girls will be ready for kindergarten. I know it's weird to think about that, but this life suits me."

"Okay. I'll take you at your word. It's just my experience with you doesn't give me a lot of reason to do that, you know?"

"I do. But I've quit hiding things from you to protect you. I love Sebastian. I know it's new, but I've spent a lot of time with him over the last nearly four months. There is nothing glamorous about a 3am feeding. I've seen him be thrown up on, peed on, and pooped on. I've watched him deal with all of those as gracefully and with as much humor as possible. He's never once sworn or yelled at Rose or Aliza or me. He's really amazing, Dad. What I really wanted that I thought I could find in New York was acceptance. I didn't have that in Lima. I didn't really have it with the people at McKinley or Dalton. But my classmates at OSU don't treat me like I'm a leper. Sebastian loves me just the way I am. That's an amazing feeling."

"It is. I'm glad you've found what you were looking for."

"I think you were what Mom was looking for. I think she was genuinely happy with her life. Maybe when you see the counselor, you should tell them about this. Let someone who knows what they're doing explain to you that there's no reason to doubt what Mom told you. And I already told you that I'd do a better job of sharing about my life – the good and the bad. Right now the good is Sebastian and the girls. The bad is Carole's depression and how hard things are for her and for you. Don't take that on yourself. You didn't cause her depression. All you can do is be there with her and for her."

"You sound like one of those counselors yourself."

"I went to see one for about six months in New York and then all summer in Columbus. It made a big difference. If I hadn't gotten some help in New York, I'm sure that scene at Dalton would have gone a lot differently."

Burt walked along silently for a little while. "I don't even want to think about that."

"Even without Aliza, that would never have ended well for me. Let's just end that discussion. I'm happy. Be happy for me."

"I am. Being here longer today and having talked with you more, I see things I didn't see before because before I wasn't looking for the right things. And what I said earlier about you sharing a room. I'm really okay with that. It just took me a little bit to get over that last hump of you being an adult, who has every right to a private, intimate life with the man he loves. And we'll leave it at that."

"I know we've done this in the complete reverse of the way it's normally done in some ways, but this has let me see the real Sebastian more than typical dating ever could have. It's easy for people to hide who they really are when they get to prepare for several days or even a week for a date. They pick out clothes, a location, an activity, and they decide on the amount of time that will be spent on those activities. Both parties have a lot of control over what they allow the other to see. Living with Sebastian for as long as I have, we've seen each other in more less-than-flattering situations than years of dating would have allowed for. By living with him as friends first, I've already learned his quirks. I already know that I'm fine with them, and he's fine with mine. It seems fast, but with no pretenses or posturing and us being ourselves, we've gotten to know each other really well."

"I hear what you're saying."

"You dated Mom for six months, and then you got married. Sebastian and I can't get married here. I know that you're working on that. Me being serious with him like this is not really any different than you and Mom. You did the same thing with Carole. I don't think the two of you had even been dating a month when you asked them to move in with us."

He sighed heavily. "You just seem so young."

"I'm two years younger than you were with Mom. It's not so different."

"You're right."

"We're good now, then, right?" Kurt asked. "You're going to move to the next phase of your life where you're still my dad, but I'm not a kid, and you're Papaw to two beautiful baby girls? And you're going to be the proud, bragging type where you show off picture of them to anyone you can corner long enough to pull your phone out to show them?"

Burt laughed. "Sounds about right. This last year came at me at break-neck speed. Like traveling in that DeLorean. I'm good now. I just need to get my phone out and take pictures like a good Papaw so I can show them off to everyone. I think part of it has been that I just don't know what to say. I don't want to lie to people, but it's none of their business why my gay son and his boyfriend have two daughters."

"Partner."

"What?"

"Partner, not boyfriend. We're living together and we have a family. I'd rather you call him my partner."

Burt nodded. "Sure."

They had made their way around the blocks and were back at the house. Kurt turned and pushed the stroller up the driveway.

"We decided that nosy people are going to get a standard sarcastic response of 'gay teen fatherhood pact', you know like those girls in high school make pacts to get pregnant at the same time."

Burt chortled. "Oh, God, Kurt. I can't tell people that."

"I know. The short version of the truth is that it's personal. Asking gay people questions they wouldn't ask a straight person is ridiculous. It's nosy and uncalled for. Plus, honestly, there's no need for you to tell them our ages. You and Mom could have had me six years before you did. I could be 26 instead of 20. Just don't mention our ages or anything surrounding how the girls ended up with us and maybe people will just 'ooh' and 'ahh' over their cuteness and not ask anything else."

"You're right. I just need to up my deflecting game. I don't owe anyone the private details of my life, much less yours."

* * *

Sebastian had opened the garage and was waiting for them. Carole, and Aliza had already gone inside the house. Kurt pushed Rose into the garage. Burt unfastened her stroller straps, picked her up, and took her inside while Kurt stayed behind to fold the stroller up and store it. Kurt paused on the step were Sebastian was waiting and kissed him gently. Sebastian pressed the garage door button on the way in. He reset the alarm once they were inside.

Kurt asked, "Do you two want to stay for a movie while the girls go down for their nap?"

Burt said, "I think we're going to head back home. Neither of us slept that well at Carole's sister's. I'd rather drive the rest of the way back in the daylight. It gets dark so early this time of year."

"Alright. Let me take Rose. Your dessert is there on the island. You can grab it."

Burt said, "I do want to get a picture of all six of us before we go, though."

"We can sit out on the front porch," Kurt offered. "You two can sit in the rockers side by side holding the girls. Sebastian and I can kneel in front. Let me grab the little tripod stand I have for my camera."

About ten minutes later, they were back inside.

Carole said, "Is there a way to get the two of them to sit together? I'd like a photo of them in the dresses."

"Sure," Kurt said. "You two can take pictures and I'll play baby positioner. Sebastian's good at getting them both to look at him. Let's do it on the sofa." Kurt went into their room and brought out a lovely pale pink blanket to put over the couch and a small swaddling blanket to put underneath to sit Aliza on.

Carole had helped Sebastian take their coats off while Kurt was gone. When he came back, he positioned the pillows in the corner to make a nice place to photograph them. He put the folded up blanket down and covered the whole area with the other blanket. He positioned them side-by-side and straightened their dresses out.

He stayed behind the sofa while Burt and Carole, sat on the ottoman with their phones ready to take pictures. Sebastian stood behind them and made chirping noises that always made the two girls look towards him. They always smiled when they saw him. A few minutes later, they had several good shots.

Kurt and Sebastian picked the girls back up and they walked Burt and Carole back to the side door.

Carole hugged Kurt and Aliza, and then Sebastian and Rose. "Merry Christmas to the four of you. We'll work on getting together more often."

Both Kurt and Sebastian nodded.

Burt stepped closer and he hugged both of them as well. "Welcome to the family, Sebastian. And you too, Rose." He touched the end of her nose gently, causing her to smile. He took her hand and put it on his chest. "Papaw."

"Paw-Paw," she repeated.

"Close enough," he said with a smile on his face. "You'll get the hang of it."

After seeing what Burt had done, Carole stepped closer and repeated his actions. "Mimi."

Rose imitated her. "Meee-Meeee." She started laughing. "Meee-Meeee."

"Well, I guess she likes that," Sebastian said, smiling as much as Rose was. "Tell Mimi and Papaw 'Bye'."

Aliza waved with a little coaxing from Kurt.

Rose waved and said, "Bye-Bye!" excitedly.

They both waved as the stepped out the door.

Sebastian turned around from setting the security system and was face to face with Kurt, who leaned forward and kissed him.

"So, snuggles or dancing? You can decide while we get them ready for their nap." Kurt turned and carried Aliza down the hall. He slipped her dress off and changed her diaper before putting in her crib.

Sebastian followed him in and changed Rose next, slipping her dress off as well, before putting her down in her crib.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian from behind after he laid Rose down. Sebastian turned without breaking the embrace. He kissed Kurt gently.

"Dancing," Sebastian said.

"Dancing it is."


	16. Chapter 16

As they stood in front of the sound system in their bedroom, Kurt connected his phone and chose a song. He wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck and kissed him gently. "I'd like this to be the first song we dance to together. I heard it in passing maybe a month ago, but I didn't catch all the lyrics, but it was on the radio the first morning I drove into Lima last week. It made me think of you, of us. I downloaded it when I got to work and I've listened to it a lot." He reached out and pressed play. He scooted closer to Sebastian and leaned into him, wrapping his arms around Sebastian's neck. He sang along quietly.

_Oh, no. Did I get too close?  
Oh. Did I almost see what's really on the inside?  
All your insecurities,  
All the dirty laundry,  
Never made me blink one time._

_Unconditional, unconditionally.  
I will love you unconditionally.  
There is no fear now.  
Let go and just be free.  
I will love you unconditionally._

_Come just as you are to me.  
Don't need apologies.  
Know that you are all worthy.  
I'll take your bad days with your good.  
Walk through this storm I would.  
I'd do it all because I love you.  
I love you._

_Open up your heart._

_Acceptance is the key to be,  
To be truly free.  
Will you do the same for me?_

_Unconditional, unconditionally.  
I will love you unconditionally.  
There is no fear now.  
Let go and just be free.  
I will love you unconditionally._

_I will love you.  
I will love you.  
I will love you unconditionally._

As the song faded out, Kurt felt Sebastian intake air roughly and sniffle. He leaned away from him just enough to see that there were tears streaking his cheeks.

"Bas?"

"Mmm hmm?"

Kurt slipped his hands up to Sebastian's cheeks and wiped the tears. "Are you okay?"

"Mmm hmm." He swallowed hard. "Better than okay. The part where it asks if the listener will do the same – I will. I do – love you so much."

"This song just really conveys where I am. No need for any more apologies. Anything in the past is just over. I love being here with you."

Sebastian nodded and let Kurt wipe the tears from his cheeks. "It's been a hard year, but I'm going to be okay. We're finally together."

"Finally?"

"Yeah. I've known that I was in love with you since Thanksgiving. I just thought I was seeing things that weren't there, that I was just imagining all of it, all while wanting you so bad."

Kurt sighed and shook his head slightly. "We're a pair aren't we? I've known since then too. I just didn't, well, couldn't let myself believe you felt the same way. And I enjoyed living here and being friends with you too much to risk saying something and making everything awkward."

"I wanted you to stay with me too much to risk telling you too. I'm glad we're past that."

"Me too." He slid his fingers down and cupped Sebastian's face and kissed him. "Now that I've relaxed, I'm actually really tired. Do you think we could nap until they wake up?"

"Of course. I know you didn't sleep much from the stress. We can change and lay down and rest."

A few minutes later, Kurt and Sebastian were in bed on top the covers, snuggled up in their pajamas under a throw.

"My dad was taken aback that we're sharing a room, but then after a few hours, he got over it. I reminded him that, even thought they were two years older than us, at this point in his relationship with my mom they were three months from getting married. And that he invited Carole and Finn to move in with us when they hadn't even been dating a month."

"So, he thinks we're…"

"Probably, but we're both adults, and it's not his place to ask."

Sebastian scooted closer and kissed along the edge of Kurt's thermal shirt at the base of his neck. "Every part of you I've seen is so sexy. I can't wait to see the rest. One day, I'm going to explore every inch of you and find out every place that turns you on." He began kissing up his neck towards Kurt's ear.

"Bas?!" Kurt said, both intrigued and skeptical.

Sebastian pulled back and looked Kurt in the eyes. "You don't want me to?"

Kurt blushed. "I do actually."

Sebastian reluctantly reminded himself that Kurt hadn't expected him to find him sexy. He was still working on putting an end to that. He scooted back towards Kurt and ran his hand through his hair. "I love you." He pressed a sweet kiss to Kurt's lips. "One day I'm going to kiss you everywhere." He pressed in and kissed Kurt with all the passion he felt. "And I'm looking forward to you doing the same to me." He rolled Kurt onto his back and began kissing along his neck. He slipped his hands under Kurt's shoulder blades and propped his weight on his elbows to keep from lying on Kurt. Then he remembered that Kurt had wanted to take a nap. He lay back down beside Kurt and wrapped his arm around him and laid his head on Kurt's chest. "I'm sorry."

"For what? I was enjoying that. You didn't need to stop."

"You said you were tired and wanted a nap. I got carried away."

Kurt tipped his chin up so he could look into Sebastian's eyes. "Please don't ever apologize for showing me that you love me and find me attractive." He kissed Sebastian. "I am tired and a nap could be nice, but kissing you and snuggling is relaxing too. I love you. All of this is new to both of us. I will be very clear if I'm not in the mood for some reason. Laying here with you is just really comfortable in a way that I can't really explain. It's like all those songs that talk about being home. This is our home now, yes. But it's you – you're my home."

Sebastian kissed him, barely more than a peck. He rolled back and picked up his phone. "You had a song running through your mind and I had this melody running through my mind the first day you were gone. I kept humming it, but couldn't recall any of the lyrics at first. As soon as I remembered a few of them, I looked it up and then downloaded it. I must have played it 20 times while you were gone, when I was working on the plans for the house." He started it and put his phone down on the side table. He turned back over to face Kurt and sang along softly as it played.

_Hold on – to me as we go,  
As we roll down this unfamiliar road.  
And although this wave is stringing us along.  
Just know you're not alone.  
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home._

_Settle down. It'll all be clear.  
Don't pay no mind to the demons,  
They'll fill you with fear.  
Though trouble, it might drag you down.  
If you get lost, you can always be found._

_Just know you're not alone,  
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home._

When the music stopped, he just lay still looking into Kurt's eyes. "I'm glad you feel comfortable here. That's what I wanted. I want this to be our home where we could be ourselves. No masks, no pretenses, and no façades of always having it together. Just you and me and the girls. I'm not deluded into thinking that being an instant family will be easy or simple, but it's worth it. And I know the 'demons' in your life tell you that you aren't enough, but you are – to me and to the girls. You're a great dad. I want this, all of this, with you."

"Me too." Kurt sat up and pulled his feet criss-cross in front of him.

Sebastian followed suit and sat up facing him.

"Are we talking about the same thing?" Kurt asked.

"What is it that you think I was talking about?"

Kurt reached out and took Sebastian's hands and interlaced their fingers. "It sounds like you're saying that you want me to be Rose's daddy and that you want to be Aliza's papa. You want us to be together as a family."

"That's exactly what I want. Rose already calls you 'Dada'. We've both been parenting both of them for the whole time you've lived here."

"We have been. You've been amazing with Aliza since the beginning. I think we just never really said the words. We've just talked about the future."

"We can't get married in Ohio, but we could get married in France when we go, or we could go to one of the states where's it's legal. I'll call our lawyer and get the details on how to go about all of it."

"Do you want to marry me?" Kurt asked.

At the same time, Sebastian asked, "You do want to get married, right?"

They chuckled and leaned forward to kiss. When they pulled back, they both had huge grins on their faces.

"So, I think that was a mutual proposal," Kurt teased.

"I think so too." He lay back down and extended his arm, offering to snuggle Kurt.

He scooted over and laid his head on Sebastian's chest. "Your heart's beating really fast." He put his hand on Sebastian's heart.

Sebastian reached up and put his hand over the top of Kurt's. "I got scared for a minute that you didn't want me the way I want you. My heart started racing."

"I definitely want you. Being with you just feels right like nothing else ever has. We'll do whatever the lawyer suggests to make the whole process of us becoming a family easier. I always thought I wanted a huge wedding, but when I really think about it, what I really wanted the enthusiasm and approval that goes along with having a huge group of people to invite who would be excited for me. But my experiences and life has changed me in a lot of ways. I think the wedding issue is one of them. I can't currently even name 20 people who would come to a wedding because of me. And I'm actually okay with that now because I've finally gotten to a point where I don't need other people's approval to be happy. We can figure out a way to celebrate with the girls. I don't need a big elaborate honeymoon. I have you and we have a beautiful room all to ourselves right here. We have the garden tub and a beautiful kitchen. We can buy each other cookbooks for our wedding presents. And we can fool around in the kitchen making and eating everything we cook."

Sebastian kissed him on the top of the head. He loved hearing Kurt excited about doing things with him. "That sounds fun. I actually do like cooking with you. This week and next, we can try our hands at making baby food. I don't mind the containers of fruits and veggies, but I think I'd like us to make their dinners out of food we cook rather than graduating to those baby soups and stuff I've seen. Aliza will be wanting to eat at some point in the next month or two."

"She hasn't shown much interest yet, but you're right. She will soon." Kurt rearranged a bit and kissed Sebastian on the neck.

Sebastian rolled onto his side and began to kiss Kurt. They kissed gentle and slow for several minutes until Sebastian moved back to straddling Kurt with his forearms under Kurt's shoulders. He kissed along his jaw and down his neck. Kurt turned just a little, giving Sebastian more room. He kissed up along Kurt's ear, and ran his tongue down his earlobe, causing Kurt to shiver a bit. He spoke quietly into Kurt's ear. "I love you."

Kurt took Sebastian by surprise and flipped their positions, which made Sebastian start to laugh. Kurt pressed in and began kissing him passionately. When they paused to catch their breath, Kurt looked Sebastian in the eyes and said, "I love you too."

"What happened to tired Kurt?" Sebastian teased.

"Oh, he might be in here somewhere still, but kissing you moved up my priority list." Kurt kissed him again. "Who knew kissing could be so much fun?"

"Well, I had my suspicions, but no proof until recently," Sebastian smarted back. He reached up and wrapped his hand around the back of Kurt's neck and drew him closer and kissed him again.

They continued to horse around and kiss until they heard babbling coming through the baby monitor.

* * *

Kurt went to change the girls. Sebastian grabbed the monitor and went into the kitchen to start dinner. He could overhear what Kurt was saying to the girls.

Aliza was fussing, so Kurt picked her up first, but he stopped in front of Rose's crib and put his hand down on her cheek. "I'll be back for you next, sweetie. Aliza's stinky and needs a new diaper." He squished his nose up when he said "stinky", which made Rose laugh at him.

He moved over to the changing area to put a clean diaper on Aliza. He cooed and sang to her a bit. "Daddy's going to change Rose now. " He kissed her on the forehead before he laid her back in her crib. "Daddy loves you, honey."

He moved back over to Rose's crib and picked her up. "How Daddy's sweetie?" He kissed her on the forehead before he laid her down to change her. "Mmuaa. Daddy loves you."

"Dada. Dada," she babbled made a lot of other sounds, including some Kurt recognized as animal sounds from the book.

"Listen to you being a cow. Moo-oo."

"Moo-oo," she imitated back.

"Good job, sweetie."

They made sounds back and forth while he finished. He picked her back up when he was done.

"You're getting so big. You're going to be up and trying to walk soon. I can tell. Let's go find Papa and get you in your chair for dinner."

"Papa. Papa. Papa."

"Yes, sweetie. I know you love your Papa. I love him too."

Sebastian's smile could not have been any bigger when Kurt came into the kitchen. Kurt saw him and winked. He put Rose in her high chair and was met with a kiss from Sebastian when he turned around. Rose clapped. Kurt went back to get Aliza and put her in her high chair as well.

"It won't take much longer. I'm just warming up the leftovers from lunch."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck and kissed him. "That's fine. I'll grab Rose's veggies and make their formula." After he finished the formula, he reached into the cabinet and got out a container of peas and grabbed a baby spoon. He sat down with her and sang to her while he got her to eat all of it. He got up when he was done and handed Sebastian the spoon.

He sat down with the applesauce, which disappeared quickly.

Kurt picked Aliza up and held her while she took her bottle. "We're going to have to start to speak French to each other too I think," Kurt said. "They only hear us sing and read books in French because we always speak English to each other. They need to start to hear more complex conversations. I know they hear French from Amaline, but she doesn't have anyone here to hold real conversations with."

" _That's not a problem for me. We'll just have to get used to it. I mean I know you speak it well. I've heard you when you read the books."_

" _I lack self-confidence. It's been a really long time since I had anyone to talk to. That short period of time at Dalton was the last time. I got busy with other stuff when I went back to Lima and I never went back to my conversation practice sessions that summer or since then."_

Sebastian nodded. He put Rose's sippy cup with the baby bottle top on her tray before he went into the living room and put in a classical CD. He sat back down, put Rose on his lap and they sat facing Kurt who was holding Aliza while she finished her bottle. When she was done, Kurt burped her and put her back in the high chair to play with her toys while Rose finished her formula back in her high chair.

After Sebastian fastened Rose in, he reached out to take Kurt's hand and pulled him close. "Can you waltz?"

Kurt nodded.

They stepped into position and began to waltz around the room. When the song finished, Sebastian let go and went to check on their food.

Kurt saw Rose smiling at them. When their eyes met, she squealed and clapped her hands. "Papa. Dada. Mow. Awn-co." She banged her hands on the high chair tray.

Sebastian turned around to see what she was so excited about.

She repeated herself. "Papa. Dada. Mow. Awn-co."

Kurt laughed. "Of course, sweetie. Come on, Sebastian. We can eat the food in a few minutes. The beautiful Miss Rose has requested that we dance more."

"Mow."

Kurt repeated the other word a couple of times. "Awn-co…awn-co." I got it. "Encore."

"Tu veux que Daddy et Papa dansent encore?"

"Awn-co." She clapped.

"We can't let her down. She asked in English and French." Kurt reached out for Sebastian.

Sebastian stepped closer and kissed Kurt gently before they began waltzing around the room again.

"Mow," she insisted when they finished.

Kurt asked her, "How about you dance with Daddy and Aliza can dance with Papa?"

"Why-ya. Papa." She pointed at them, and then put her arms up to get Kurt to pick her up. "Dada."

They danced around the room with the girls in their arms. As the song came to a close, they moved closer together. Kurt kissed Rose on the forehead. She reached for Sebastian as he stepped closer to her.

"Rose thinks it's time to switch partners."

"Sounds good to me." Sebastian responded. "What you do you think, Aliza?"

Kurt moved close enough that they could swap, but Sebastian didn't let Kurt step away until he had kissed Aliza on the cheek.

She smiled and kicked her feet.

They danced around the room again with their new partners.

After the song ended, Sebastian changed the music to their traditional evening French children's music. They put the girls back in their chairs while they ate quickly. They still kept their focus on the girls and sang along in between bites. They picked them back up and danced around a bit more before they moved on to their evening reading time routine.

* * *

When Sebastian came back in from his shower, he found Kurt standing in the middle of their room turning slowly and looking at everything.

"I like them all. Your Green Lantern poster really coordinates well with my _Wicked_ poster. The green and black designs look good with the comforter. And I really like the New York sunrise poster and the Paris poster with the Eiffel Tower in the evening. The Art Deco style looks really fun and funky like everything else in here."

Sebastian crossed the room and stood behind Kurt. "I agree. Our collages look really good too. As soon as Sam helps us with the paintings for the playroom, we'll have everything done."

"Mmm hmm." Kurt stepped back into Sebastian, pressing his back to Sebastian's chest. He reached back and wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck, tipping his head to the side and leaning it back onto Sebastian's shoulder.

Sebastian took advantage of his position and wrapped his arms around Kurt and began to kiss up his neck. "Are you purposefully trying to seduce me or are you just being your regular sexy self?"

"I just like touching you? I wasn't trying to be or do anything other than be close to you."

Sebastian let his hands slip down to Kurt's waist, but with Kurt's arms up behind him, his shirt had slid up and Sebastian's fingers grazed over Kurt's skin causing him to startle a bit.

"Sorry." Sebastian moved his hands back to where they were.

"It's fine. It just tickled since I wasn't expecting it."

Sebastian went back to kissing along Kurt's neck. When he had made it up to Kurt's ear, he said, "I'd like us to get rings, if that's okay with you."

"Engagement rings?"

"Partnership rings? That's what we are now, right? Partners?"

Sebastian walked backwards the few steps it took to get to the love seat and sat down in the corner and bent his left leg and put it along the back and his right foot on the floor, leaving room for Kurt to sit between his legs and lean back on him in a similar way to how they had been standing. Kurt sat down and mimicked Sebastian's position and leaned back. Sebastian wrapped his arms back around him.

Sebastian said, "We've gone about this in the wrong order according to society's rules. We didn't meet, become friends, date, fall in love, graduate from college, get jobs, get engaged, get married, move in together, wait a while, and then have kids. But in all honesty, the fact that we're together at all breaks society's rules right now. Most of society doesn't want us have any of those things that deal with love or having kids. Your dad and others are working to make things more fair, but even when they succeed, that won't make people change their mind about the morality of it. Like you said earlier this afternoon, we don't have to wait for other people to give us permission to be happy. I love you and I'm in love with you. We're living together and we've decided to be a family and raise the girls as sisters. We're partners. That started when we agreed to it, although we may have agreed silently at first, we confirmed that unspoken agreement and commitment in words this afternoon. How long it takes to get the government to recognize that is beyond our control. You mentioned how a wedding is just an opportunity for the couple's friends and family to get together and celebrate with the couple. And you're right. Honestly, my grandparents and your dad and Carole would be it here in Ohio. There would be more of my mom's family in France, but not really any friends. I left two and a half years ago and I didn't keep in touch with anyone that I went to school with the two years I was there. We'll do whatever our lawyer figures out to do to make it all legal. The two of us making a commitment to each other and the girls is between us, whether anyone else sees or not."

"You're right. Whether it's the four of us or four hundred people, it's about us making a commitment. My dad referred to you as my boyfriend earlier. I corrected him and told him that you were my partner. So, we're definitely on the same page."

"How did he take it?"

"He feels like this past year has brought a whirlwind of change that he wasn't prepared for, but he said he's going to be supportive. You saw him tell Rose to call him 'Papaw'. He knows that he's moving on to the part of his life where I'm his son, but no longer a kid. It will all take a bit of time. They're both going to get counseling, so I think everything's moving in the right direction." Kurt turned just enough that he could rotate his neck to kiss Sebastian. "This has been a crazy year, but I love being here with you and the girls, our girls."

Sebastian ran his index finger and thumb along Kurt's ring finger. "This started this with me asking you about getting rings. You haven't answered."

"Oh, yes. Definitely, yes. Did you have something in particular in mind?"

"Silver. Not the metal itself, but the color. Stainless or titanium. Something strong, which silver is not. White gold is nice, but it's really expensive and not as durable as stainless or titanium. We could go out one morning and pick them out."

"Sure." Kurt turned more and folded himself up on his side and snuggled into Sebastian's chest. He took a deep breath, taking in Sebastian's scent and let out a contented sigh. He took Sebastian's right hand and intertwined their fingers. "I like silver better than gold as well."

"Do you want to move over to the bed so we can sleep?"

"Yeah, I'm comfy, but not enough to stay this way for a few hours between now and when they wake up for their next bottle." He got up and pulled the covers back on the bed.

Sebastian turned off the remaining light and got into bed with him. He kissed Kurt and then turned over to be the little spoon. He scooted back and reached for Kurt's hand and held it over his heart. A wave of calmness and serenity flowed through him at Kurt's touch. He smiled and pulled Kurt's hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles. "You know I told you that I knew love was real, even when I was 15 and being stupid?"

"Mmm hmm." Kurt kissed the back of his neck and nuzzled in closer.

"I did know, but I didn't realize how amazing it was. There are so many movies where couples fall in love, but so few of them end up acting like it. But maybe it's because the movie would seem utterly boring to watch the couple enjoy sitting together and just talking about everything and nothing. The movie wouldn't really have a plot in the traditional sense. No real conflict. Now, I'm just rambling."

"No, I think I get what you mean. You saw your parents and both sets of grandparents just being people. You knew they loved each other, but you didn't see the passion that movies tell us is part of love. You wanted that sexy, passionate part of the equation. You were young and curious, and honestly, probably horny. And you were offered a way to have that curiosity and physical urge satisfied, and it felt good. And now you feel differently, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah. Now, I realize how amazing the quote 'boring' unquote part is. It's not boring at all. It's calm and reassuring, but it's also deep and wild. It's just mind-blowing to me that I can feel so utterly calm and like I've been set on fire from within at the same time. And the burning isn't lust. It's passion. Real passion. The difference is palpable. Just kissing you is more arousing than I had imagined possible. I know I'm not being eloquent, but I just need you to know how I feel. Just so many things all at once and they're all so hard to explain. You're gorgeous and amazing and I'm just really glad that we're together."

"Me too, Bas. Me too. That night I told you that I was in love with you and we kissed the first time, I felt like warm honey flowed through me. It was so comforting and hot all at the same time. You're very attractive. And those other things you mentioned about feeling calm and relaxed, that's definitely true for me. You make me feel valued and appreciated, which falls into that list of supposedly boring attributes you mentioned, which are absolutely not boring. Being enough is amazing. And laying like this and holding you and feeling valued and cared for and deeply loved on a daily basis will make our future sex life so much better for me than sex for the sake of sex. It sounds like that's how you feel too."

"It is. I couldn't think of how to phrase it so it didn't come out sounding all garbled. The connection we have will make our sex life great because we'll be open and honest and open with how we feel and what we like. It will be something we experience together, not a performance, which is kind of how it was for me before. I knew what was going to happen and I kept up my end of the process, or whatever a good way to word it would be."

"I understand what you mean. There was an arrangement of sorts. It had a time frame. The process was pleasurable, but it wasn't spontaneous, and you probably didn't have much say in it. While my situation was very different, parts of it were quite similar. There was always a time frame. And I won't get into it, but it was always very performative, yet pleasurable in its own way. With us, everything is different. Everything. I honestly can't think of any similarities. I'm not performing the role of Sebastian's partner. I'm me. I'm myself with you. You love me for who I am, messed up parts and all." Kurt buried his face into Sebastian's shoulder.

Sebastian could feel Kurt begin to breathe like he was crying. He pushed back against Kurt's chest and got him to scoot back. He rolled over to face him and wrapped his arm around him. "You're crying."

"Happy tears. I promise. I always wondered what it would feel like to be really loved. And it's indescribable, despite the amount of effort both of us have put into explaining ourselves." Kurt positioned himself so that he could kiss Sebastian.

Sebastian wiped the tears from Kurt's face with his thumb as they kissed. "I do love you. Very much. More than I knew I could, actually."

"I won't tell anyone how utterly adorable and sappy you are. Your penchant for snark, sarcasm, and witty charm will remain unsullied."

Sebastian kissed down his neck and back up. "And I'm good with being the only one who knows how fiery you are. You can keep that Ice King persona going too, if you want." He rolled Kurt onto his back and pressed his lips to Kurt's almost teasingly at first.

He barely pressed into the kiss before Kurt flipped their positions.

Sebastian started laughing. "God, you are so much fun." He reached up under the edge of Kurt's shirt and lightly ran his fingers across Kurt's skin like he had accidentally done earlier that afternoon.

Kurt squealed and slipped his knees farther apart to keep Sebastian pinned to the bed. "It's not going to be that easy." He leaned forward and kissed Sebastian.

Instead of sleeping until the girls woke up around midnight, the two of them continued to talk, kiss, and relax.

* * *

Christmas Eve morning, the girls had finished their breakfast and were in the playroom with Sebastian, who was down on the floor playing games with them to help them learn object permanence that he had read about in one of their books on baby development.

While standing at the sink washing the skillet he had used to make a huge omelette to split with Sebastian, Kurt was staring into space thinking about everything they had talked about the day before. Suddenly, the snowflakes broke him out of his trance. "Bas, look!" he exclaimed. "It's snowing."

Sebastian got up and scurried into the kitchen, smiling at Kurt's enthusiasm and went to look out the window with him.

"Let's take the girls outside and let them see it. There wasn't any snow predicted for today, so it probably won't last."

Sebastian kissed him on the back of the neck. "Sure. Let's just put their coats on over their sleepers."

Less than five minutes later, the four of them were outside in the backyard. The flakes had gotten even larger, big enough for both girls to notice them. Sebastian was holding Aliza. She batted at them as they fell. Rose squealed and tried to catch them.

"It's snowing," Kurt said, catching one in his palm and showing it to the girls.

" _Il neige_ ," Sebastian repeated. He stuck his tongue out and tried to catch a snowflake.

Rose started laughing and mimicked him.

Kurt managed to pull his phone out and get a photo of the four of them together with the two of them with their tongues sticking out. "I'm putting that one in a frame in our room."

Sebastian looked at Kurt's screen. "We'll print one out on the way to Grandma and Grandpa's later. They'll love it."

They walked around and let the girls touch the flakes that accumulated on the edge of the bricks under the study window. After about 10 minutes they took them back inside to warm up. They hung their coats in the laundry room to dry off.

"I'll fill the tub up while you undress them and we'll get their bath going. That will warm them up quickly. We were going to give them one after lunch anyway."

* * *

They redressed both girls in sleepers after they got them out of the tub.

"Rose's hair is long enough for us to try to put the little bows in her hair," Kurt said.

"Sure. We'll see how long she leaves them in, but let's wait and put them in later. We're going to have to put her coat back on for the trip later and that will probably knock them out, won't it?"

"You're right. It might."

Kurt carried Rose into the dining room and put her in her high chair. Sebastian followed along and put Aliza in hers. He got some toys for them and put them on their trays. Kurt pulled their omelettes out of the fridge and warmed them up. He sat down next to Sebastian and they ate and discussed their plans since they had already bathed the girls and they wanted to add in stopping by a CVS to print out the picture to take with them.

After they finished eating, they went back to the girls' playroom and showed them how to stack and nest the cups that Carole had brought the day before. Both girls enjoyed watching Kurt and Sebastian stack the cups and as soon as they were, they would reach out and knock them down. Rose grabbed them when they were nested and dumped all of them back out and clapped for herself. They played for a while, with Rose being especially proud of her ability to undo whatever Kurt or Sebastian had done with the cups. Aliza got into it and clapped for Rose's efforts to undo their work as well. After a while they put the cups away, read them a couple of books, and got them ready for their morning nap.


	17. Chapter 17

"I'm going to change into some completely dry clothes," Kurt said. "I haven't dried out completely from Rose's newfound love of splashing the bathtub and I'm getting chilly." Kurt turned and went into their room instead of the kitchen.

Sebastian followed him into their closet. "I was just trying to ignore it until after we finished cooking, but I'm damp still too." Sebastian pulled out another soft flannel shirt and a pair of jeans and turned to go to the bathroom to change.

Kurt stopped looking through his shirts and looked at Sebastian when he started towards the closet door. "Bas?"

"Yeah?"

"You can dress in here with me. You don't have to go into the bathroom."

"You're sure?"

Kurt stepped towards him and wrapped his arms around Sebastian's lower back. "I'm sure. I can even help you with these buttons if you'd like." Kurt kissed him. He used his body to move Sebastian towards the wall and continued to kiss him. He let go of him and put his hands on Sebastian's shoulders instead. He ran his hands down his arms and back up to his neck. "Would you like that?"

"Mmm hmm." Kurt moved his hands to the buttons on Sebastian's shirt and started to undo them as he continued to kiss him. "Still okay?"

"Definitely. Can I undo yours?"

"Mmm hmm."

Sebastian began working on Kurt's buttons. They were slowed significantly by their continued kissing. When Kurt reached the bottom, he pulled a bit to untuck the shirt to be able to unbutton it the rest of the way. Once he did that, he reached up and unbuttoned the cuffs on Sebastian's shirt. He unbuttoned his own as well, speeding the process up a little for Sebastian. Kurt reached up and slipped Sebastian's shirt off his shoulders and let it slide down to his elbows. Sebastian straightened his arms long enough to let the shirt slip to the floor. Kurt ran his hands along Sebastian's upper arms under the edges of the undershirt he had on. Once Sebastian had freed Kurt of his shirt, Kurt let it slip to the floor.

"Oh, God. You look so hot in that black singlet." He kissed down Kurt's neck and across his shoulder.

Kurt reached down and pulled it over his head and let it drop to the floor.

Sebastian's breath hitched. "Can I touch you?"

"Please. Will you take your undershirt off too?"

Sebastian whipped it off and dropped it. "You can touch me."

They both reached out somewhat hesitantly at first, but their touches grew bolder. They resumed their kissing. They reluctantly broke apart to catch their breath.

Kurt ran his finger across Sebastian's chest, tracing lines between his freckles. "I love your freckles."

Sebastian smiled. He ran his hands along Kurt's upper arms. "You are much more muscular than I had imagined."

"Tires are heavy," he teased.

"Yeah, I hadn't considered that," he chucked. "You're beautiful." He ran his hands up along Kurt's collarbones to the sides of his neck and leaned forward to kiss him gently.

"Thank you."

"As much as I want to continue kissing and touching, we have food to make."

"We do." He pressed his forehead to Sebastian's and loosely wrapped his arms around his neck. "You are unfairly attractive, but I'll count that as a bonus for me now that you're mine."

Sebastian laughed. "You're something, you know. I love you so much. And I am all yours."

"I love you too. I just want to put pajama pants on and drag you to bed for a sexy snuggle."

"Oh, now who's being unfairly provocative and distracting? We're definitely doing that. We can put the girls in the playard while we cook. I want a sexy snuggle."

Kurt kissed him. "Wish granted." Kurt took off out of the closet quickly to their dresser and slipped pajama pants on, and then pulled out a pair of Sebastian's.

Sebastian stayed behind and quickly picked up their shirts and hung them up, and hooked the hangers over the shower rod in the bathroom. He put their undershirts over the rod. He came into the room with a huge smile on his face. When he got to the edge of the love seat, he was met with his pajama pants flying at him. He caught them by reflex.

Kurt walked past him with his pants to hang them on a hook in the bathroom to dry.

Sebastian was still laughing when he came in to hang his up. "You are a lot of fun." Sebastian grabbed him around the middle and pulled him close. "I like this." He ran his hands up Kurt's back. "I think I don't want to sleep in shirts anymore."

"We'll get cold," Kurt teased.

"We'll put the throw on over the top of the comforter."

Kurt sassed back. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Usually. But if the dilemma somehow involves figuring out a way to touch you more, I'm SURE I'll come up with a solution." He slipped his hands down to Kurt's waist and turned him and gently pushed him towards the closet door. "Tick tock. Time for our sexy snuggle."

Kurt swaggled his hips, while intentionally walking more slowly.

"Those hips."

"What about my hips?"

"Very sexy. Now, walk a little faster and less distractingly." He nudged Kurt forward.

Kurt just laughed and took off. He rounded the side of the bed quickly and slipped under the covers. "Come on, slowpoke!" he called out.

"I'll slowpoke you."

"Maybe some day, but not today."

"Kurt!" Sebastian sounded scandalized.

Kurt rolled towards him and batted his eyes. "Yes, Bas?" he responded sweetly.

He cracked up. Between laughing, he said, "Roll over. I want to be the big spoon first."

Kurt kissed him, and then flopped over and scooted back. Sebastian slipped his left arm under Kurt's pillow and wrapped his right around Kurt, his forearm pressed to Kurt's chest and his hand along the side of Kurt's neck.

Sebastian took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He nuzzled into the back of Kurt's neck, taking in the scent that brought him a sense of comfort. For months, he had only caught a whiff of it here and there, most often as they sat together reading books to the girls or when they stepped close enough to trade off partners while dancing with them. But now that they were sleeping in the same bed, he had the pleasure of enjoying it for more than a fleeting moment. He placed soft kisses along Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt hummed and sighed.

Sebastian took his response as an indication to continue.

Kurt took Sebastian's hand and began to kiss down Sebastian's thumb, up his index finger and back down, continuing on until he got to the base of his pinky. From there, he kissed down the edge of his palm to the sensitive skin on his wrist. "Tell me what you do and don't like, okay?" Kurt asked.

"If you do anything I don't like, I'll say so." He went back to kissing across Kurt's shoulders. "You do the same, okay?"

"Mmm hmm." Kurt mumbled, as he kept kissing along Sebastian's wrist.

* * *

The girls' babbling brought them back to the list of things they were supposed to be doing. Since neither of the girls was crying, they didn't rush out of their room.

Kurt pushed back and Sebastian gave him room to turn over to face him. "Snuggling shirtless is definitely on the repeat-worthy list." He reached out and ran his hand along Sebastian's neck and through his hair. Kurt's smile radiated all the way to his eyes.

Sebastian noticed. "Happy is a good look on you."

"Thanks. I'm planning to wear it for a really long time."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you'll be bucking the runway fashion trends. The last several I've seen photos of, everyone looked like androids whose facial expressions had been left set to the default expressionless factory settings."

Kurt cracked up. "That is THE best description I've heard. I love fashion. I do. But, wow, some of those designers are nuts. And some of the runway stuff looks like it belongs in a Tim Burton live-action movie these days."

"I had actually been thinking that some of them should be considered for the next _Spy Kids_ movie."

Kurt laughed again. "You're right. You're absolutely right. Tony Shaloub's wardrobe has nothing on some of the runway stuff I've seen." He pressed forwards and kissed Sebastian. "We need to go get the girls and get cooking or we're going to end up going to your grandparents' empty-handed."

"Well, honestly, they wouldn't really care. Sure, they like to eat what we make, but as long as the four of us show up, they'll be happy."

"I'm sure that's true, but I want to make cookies with you."

"I do too. We're going to let the girls help, right?"

"We'll try." Kurt slipped out from under the covers. "Come on." He went in the closet and grabbed one of Sebastian's pullover hoodies and put it on. He grabbed another for Sebastian.

They met in the doorway. Kurt handed him the hoodie he was holding.

"My hoodie looks good on you." He kissed Kurt before he pulled it on.

Kurt followed him out to go take care of the girls.

* * *

Sebastian stirred the cookie dough with an audience of two on the other side of the island. They had moved the girls' high chairs and adjusted them to be the right height to sit up to the island counter. Sebastian was singing made up songs about making cookies, much to the delight of both girls. Before Sebastian started rolling the dough into balls, Kurt pulled out enough of the batter to make two small gingerbread men.

He flattened out half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper and helped Rose press the gingerbread cookie cutter into the dough. "Good job, sweetie." He kissed her on top of the head. "It's Aliza's turn next." He repeated the process and helped Aliza press the cookie cutter into the dough.

Sebastian followed behind him washing their hands.

"Those two can be for your grandparents, courtesy of the girls. I think they'll think it's cute."

"I think so too." Sebastian began to scoop out balls of dough and put them on the cookie sheets.

Kurt used an oiled stainless measuring cup to flatten them out. He sprinkled the sugar and cinnamon on top. Afterwards, he pulled the excess dough away from the edges of the gingerbread men and sprinkled them as well. He picked the tray up and put the first batch in the oven. "We snuggled through the time we needed to cut all of them into shapes and decorate them," Kurt teased.

Sebastian turned and kissed him. "I like round snickerdoodles just fine. I'm happy with using our time to snuggle." He kissed Kurt again. "Maybe we can make gingerbread men on New Year's."

Rose clapped. "Papa Dada muah."

Kurt chuckled. "You say 'muah' when you kiss her on the cheeks. She thinks that's the word for kiss."

The two of them walked around the island and kissed Rose and then Aliza, which made Rose laugh, but then shake her head no.

"Papa Dada muah."

Kurt kissed Sebastian, which made Rose laugh and clap.

"Close enough. She's a baby. She'll figure it out. But she's clearly glad that we're kissing now too."

"She loves both of us, and she's obviously glad that we love each other too."

Sebastian washed and dried his hands and wrapped them around Kurt, hugging him from behind. "Me too." He let go and started to work on the pasta sauce they were taking with them.

Kurt checked on the mini meatballs that were boiling on the stove. He packed up the rotini in the insulated picnic basket, along with the girls' bottles, some baby food, and the leftover dessert from the previous afternoon. Sebastian put the sauce in a container and left the lid off. Kurt scooped the meatballs out and put them in the bowl with the sauce and put the lid on. Sebastian switched the trays of cookies.

They moved in and out of each other's spaced with practiced ease and the recently added affectionate touches here and there, which caused both of them to end up smiling like loons.

They took the girls to their room and changed their diapers and put them in the snowmen outfits along with the socks that looked like ballet shoes they had picked up the last time they had gone shopping.

Once they were dressed, Sebastian went back to the kitchen and pulled out the second tray of cookies. Kurt went and changed into nice clothes for their visit, choosing a white shirt with a black pattern and a black waistcoat to match the girls' outfits.

When Kurt was putting his belt on, Sebastian came in and saw what he was wearing. "That's a good idea. I have that black dress shirt with tiny diamond pattern that you helped me pick out when I had to dress up for my presentation. I'll wear that under my black v-neck sweater and we can get Grandma to take a picture of the four of us together. While Sebastian changed, Kurt bundled the girls up, got them in their car seats, and sat them by the garage door.

They both made trips in and out of the house loading the car. Sebastian packaged up the cookies last, added them to the picnic basket, and put it in the back of his SUV. They grabbed their coats and gloves, put the girls in the back, and got in themselves.

* * *

Westerville, Christmas Eve

Kurt found a radio station playing all Christmas music and he and Sebastian sang along on the drive. As soon as they got there, they took the girls out of their car seats and headed straight for the front door.

Dotty opened the door. "It's so good to see the four of you."

Sebastian leaned in and hugged her as soon as they were inside. "We're glad to see you too, Grandma."

Rose piped up. "Am-mah… muah."

Kurt chuckled. "That's her new word the last day or so, at least that we noticed. 'Muah' means kiss. It's what Sebastian says when he kisses her on the cheeks. And I'm guessing that Am-mah is 'Grandma'. Kiss her and see if I'm right."

She had leaned out and grabbed for Dotty while Kurt was talking.

Dotty reached for Rose and kissed her on the cheek and said, "Muah." like Sebastian.

Rose clapped and said, "Muah!" She practically dropped herself into Dotty's arms.

"Aren't you in a chipper mood," Dotty said. She held her close and rocked her. She kissed her on the forehead again. "I'm so glad to see you, Miss Rose. Grandma has missed you." After she hugged her again, she passed her to Richard. "Give Grandpa a hug too. He missed you too."

"Am-pa!" she squealed.

"Hello, beautiful! Let's go get your teddy coat off." He took her to the living room where he could sit her down.

Aliza was still in Kurt's arms. Dotty stepped closer. "How are you Miss Aliza?" She reached out and stroked Aliza's cheek. She held her hands out offering to hold Aliza. "Can Grandma hold you?"

Aliza reached for her.

Dotty nestled her in close and kissed her on the top of the head. She stepped back from Kurt and observed Aliza's reaction. Sebastian had told her had happened at Kurt's parents and no one was sure whether Aliza would cry if she couldn't see Kurt or Sebastian, so Dotty waited to make sure she was okay. "Shall we go take your coat off too? We'll come right back here and watch your daddy and papa bring everything inside, okay?" She took a few steps away and Aliza was still smiling and happy, so she took her to the living room.

Kurt and Sebastian went back out and brought everything inside with an audience of two. When they took the food in the kitchen, they both saw that the table had been set with the girls sitting at the ends like the rulers of a kingdom. Dotty had gotten two washable rag rugs to put under the highchairs.

On their final trip in, Dotty and Aliza followed them into the kitchen.

Kurt said, "I like the set up. The washable rugs are the perfect idea with you having carpet in the dining area. Those vinyl mats work great at our house on the wood, but they wouldn't work so well on the carpet, I bet."

"Well, they're getting big enough to start to feed themselves, and I know how much babies love to test gravity."

Sebastian was still stuck on Kurt saying "our house". He was grinning from ear to ear. Kurt saw and smiled too, even though he had no idea what had brought on such a gorgeous smile.

"Why don't you get Grandpa and Rose and go ahead and get the girls in their high chairs? This won't take long," Kurt suggested.

Dotty nodded and took her to the living room.

Kurt stepped closer to Sebastian and kissed him. "What's the amazing smile for?"

"You. Us. You said 'our house'."

"I did. That's what the renovations were about. You said you made it our home. And so it is." He kissed Sebastian again before he stepped away to get the food they brought with them heated up and ready to eat.

Sebastian followed behind him and wrapped his arms around him from behind while he was stirring the pasta into the sauce on the stovetop.

Dotty came back, but she stopped short when she saw Sebastian hugging Kurt from behind. She smiled and her eyes lit up. It was clear how happy she was to see Sebastian so happy with Kurt. She put Aliza in the high chair at the far end of the table and Richard put Rose in the other.

"I really think she freaked out so much at my parents' place because she's just not used to going there. She's never been upset when we've left her here. We're going to change that and start going there once a month or maybe twice. It depends. With my dad going back and forth to DC, we'll have to work on the scheduling."

"I'm sure that will help."

Within a couple of minutes, everyone was seated and they began to pass the food. Rose reached out and tried to grab the bowls.

Dotty said, "I don't want to overstep, Sebastian, but I think Rose wants to eat what we're having."

"We've been seeing signs of that, but honestly, I'm not sure. I've read a lot of things and I'm willing to let her have the fruits and veggies and the meat if we cut it up super small so that she can't choke. But I've read things about it not being a good idea to give infants grains, so I'm holding off on those. If you want, we can let her try to feed herself some of the green beans. They're super soft. Let's just cut them up like the freeze-dried fruits she likes and see what happens."

Dotty cut up one of the green beans from her own plate into six pieces and put it on Rose's highchair tray. She looked at them for a few seconds, not sure about trying them, but she eventually picked a piece up and put it in her mouth.

"We're going to try feeding Aliza baby food while we're on break. She hasn't shown a lot of interest, but we're going to see." Kurt turned to watch Rose. "Well, she seems to like the green beans."

Rose picked up another bite and ate it.

"It's so interesting to see just how far apart their development is with just three months difference. A year from now, there won't be much of a difference anymore," Dotty said.

Kurt nodded. "Aliza's goal right now is crawling. I see her watch Rose. She pushes up onto her hands and knees and rocks. It's not going to take her much longer. She's going to end up crawling quite a bit earlier than Rose did because of Rose. She wants to be able to follow her around."

"That's adorable," Dotty said.

"It really is," Sebastian agreed. "I'm sure you'll see it once we put them down in the living room after we eat."

* * *

Dotty and Richard's house was carpeted, unlike their house, and it seemed to be just what Aliza needed to give herself the final boost to crawl on her own. When they put them down in the living room after they ate, it didn't take her long to push up onto her hands and knees and start to rock. But this time, she managed the coordination she needed to move forward just a bit. She shocked herself and smiled. She kept at it. Kurt and Sebastian got down on their hands and knees and encouraged her they way they had Rose.

Within ten minutes she had made it a few feet from where she had started. She lay down flat and rolled onto her back for a while. Rose crawled over to her, as if to encourage her. She rolled back over and pushed back up and rocked until she got her motor revving again. Rose crawled away. Aliza was determined to follow. She managed to make it quite a bit farther. Kurt took photos and everyone was smiling at her and praising her for her hard work.

"She's so tiny to be able to do that," Kurt said, still surprised. "I mean, I know we saw in the baby book we have that some babies start to crawl at six months, she just seems so little."

"Mmm hmm," Dotty said. "'Monkey see, monkey do.' is powerful motivation."

"Peer pressure starts young," Kurt teased.

"Well, we'll just have to try to keep Rose from teaching Aliza naughty things," Sebastian said.

Richard laughed. "Good luck with that. I could tell you stories on your dad and uncle. The trouble the two of them found together."

Dotty just shook her head. "He's right though. They'll work together against the two of you and you're both pretty clueless having both grown up as only children."

"I can see that," Kurt said. "The only question is which one of them will be the instigator."

"You'll know by a year from now," Dotty laughed.

Kurt remembered the photo they had brought and went to get it out of his bag. "This was this morning." He handed it to Dotty.

"That's adorable. I'm going to go put that on the fridge." I bought some of those sleeves you used for the other ones."

While she was gone, Kurt and Sebastian started to put the playard together so they could keep the girls corralled at the end of the room away from the tree and the fireplace while they played Euchre and Dominoes at a table right next to them.

When she came back, she said, "I'd like the four of you to sit in front of the tree so I can get a few good pictures of all of you and then the girls can open their gifts."

They arranged themselves and Richard managed to get both girls to look toward the camera by doing a few different birdcalls.

"Well, you four are very photogenic," Dotty said. She and Richard left and came back a couple of minutes early carrying two fairly large boxes. They put them on the floor in front of them. "Go ahead and help the girls open them."

Kurt and Sebastian stood the girls up and let them explore the packages. Dotty hadn't wrapped them, knowing that the girls wouldn't know how to unwrap them anyway, plus they were too young to notice what was on the outside. She had cut the heavy-duty box tape and retaped it with regular gift wrap tape. After a couple of minutes, they removed the tape and opened the top of one of the boxes. Rose peeked over the top and squealed and clapped, which got Aliza's attention. Sebastian picked her up so she could see over the edge.

Kurt got up on his knees and reached in and pulled out a standing play table with a bunch of places to attach toys. While Kurt put the legs on, Sebastian put the toys on. Rose stood along the edge using one of the toys as a handhold to keep her balance. Kurt kept his hand right behind her. Sebastian propped Aliza up on his leg so she could reach the toys too.

"I know it's a little soon for Aliza, but she'll grow into it. I figured that she could play in the spinny seat with the toys on it and Rose could be more mobile and play with this since she's pulling up now. And they can play with it together once Aliza can pull up too."

Richard said, "The legs are optional. Why don't we take them back off for now and let them play with it sitting down?"

"Good idea," Kurt agreed.

They held the girls back for a second and Richard removed the legs and sat it back down. The girls went right back to grabbing for everything to see what each thing did.

Dotty said, "The other one is a bit different. You may want to wait until you get home to get it out and assemble it."

They looked on the side of the box to see that it was cube with toys on four sides, plus some on the top.

Sebastian looked at it. "Actually it looks like it assembles easily. We didn't bring their strollers, so we have room for it in the back already assembled." He went ahead and took it out and put it together while the girls were still playing with the first toy. He moved it into the playard for them to explore a little later.

Dotty said, "Being a baby now is a lot more fun than when your dad and Uncle Arthur were babies."

"Well, they're definitely having a blast," Kurt said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear."

Kurt scooted back and Sebastian uncrossed his ankles to let Kurt scoot back against his chest. Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt, who placed his arms over the tops and laced his fingers through Sebastian's. Richard managed to get a few photos of the two of them watching their girls with contentment and joy on their faces.

* * *

After they got home and unloaded everything, they put the girls in sleepers, read some books to them, and put them in bed. While Sebastian was in the shower, Kurt brought the two boxes that Dotty had given to him in secret and put them on the ottoman before he did his skincare routine.

When Sebastian finished, he came out to the living room to watch a movie and snuggle. "Where did those come from?"

"Santa."

"Right," Sebastian chuckled. "So, they're from you? I thought we weren't exchanging gifts."

"We aren't. The top one is for both of us. I just had it delivered to your grandparents' to keep it hidden. The other one is from your grandparents as far as I know."

Sebastian reached for the top one and pulled it out of the box. "Ooh, a blanket. He pulled it out of the plastic package it was wrapped in. "The softest blanket ever."

"It's for in here. I thought the tan with the cream pattern that kind of looks like star-shaped snowflakes would look good with the brown sofa for the fall and winter."

He stood up and opened it up. "It's huge."

"We can lay it out and lie on top of it and then cover up with it and be super snuggly, kind of like a sleeping bag without a zipper. And when the girls get bigger and watch movies with us, we can all cover up with it."

Sebastian stepped closer to Kurt and leaned over and kissed him. "Shall we try it out?"

Kurt got up and they spread it out on the sofa leaving half of it over the back to cover up with.

"Are you going to open the other one?"

"Sure." He picked it up and put it back down quickly like he had been burned. "I know what it is."

Kurt's face went from a smile to concerned instantly. "What?"

"It's the huge Lego set. My mom would watch and make sure to order whichever one she had chosen on the day it came out in order to be sure to have it for me." Tears began to stream down his cheeks. "She must have bought it in the spring and left it at Grandma and Grandpa's." He picked it back up and saw a note taped to one end. He took the note off and read it. "I was right." He unwrapped it. It was the Palace Cinema set with over 2000 pieces. "You'll put it together with me, right?" he managed to barely get out over the tears.

"Of course, Bas. It's amazing." He reached out and put his hand on Sebastian's shoulder.

"I didn't find one when we cleaned everything out. I just assumed that she hadn't bought one before…" He wiped his eyes.

Kurt scooted closer and knelt in front of Sebastian and pulled him into a hug. After a few minutes, he got up and lay down on the blanket. He managed to get Sebastian to snuggle into his chest. Once they were comfortable, Kurt pulled the blanket down over them and held him until he cried himself to sleep.

* * *

About midnight, Aliza began to fuss. Kurt kissed the top of Sebastian's head.

"Hey, Bas. The girls are waking up."

"Mmm. M'kay." He carefully sat up. "I'm sorry."

Kurt sat next to him. "What for?"

"We didn't watch the movie."

"You're more important than any movie could ever be. Look at me, please, Bas." Kurt waited and reached up and put his hand on the side of Sebastian's face. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I love you. I'm here for you and I'll be here for you."

They heard fussing again and got up to take care of the girls. Kurt took Sebastian's hand as they walked through the house. They opened the door. Sebastian picked Aliza up and put her on the changing table, assuming that she was fussing so much because her diaper needed changed.

"Pee-ew," he said, as he leaned down and grabbed a diaper. "Can you turn their little lamp on? She's not just wet."

Kurt reached over and turned it on before he picked Rose up.

"Dada." She smiled and kicked her feet. "Muah." She grabbed for his hair.

"Ouch."

"Muah!" she insisted.

Kurt tipped his head down and she pressed a sloppy, baby kiss to his forehead. He kissed her on the forehead afterwards.

"Daddy loves you."

"Wub."

"Yes, love. I love you. Muah." He kissed her on the forehead again. He put her on the changing table. He resisted the urge to blow raspberries on her tummy because all of the baby books said to make the middle of the night feedings as boring as possible, but he hadn't been able to resist the kisses.

He changed her quickly and went out to the kitchen with Sebastian and Aliza. Rose's bottle was waiting for them on the table, but they had already gone into the living room. He sat down as close as he could to Sebastian and put Rose in his arm farthest from him. He reached out and took Sebastian's hand and interlaced their fingers.

Kurt spoke quieter than a whisper. "Rose can save 'love' now. It's adorable. I told her I loved her and she said, 'wub'. I'm going to add it to her new words list tomorrow morning." He could see the smile on Sebastian's face even in the very dim light from the nightlight in the room.

When the girls finished their bottles, they put them back to bed . Kurt folded the new blanket up and put it across the back of the sofa. He turned the candles off with the remote before he grabbed the wrapping paper and the box the blanket had been shipped in. He took them to the garage while Sebastian put the bottles in the dishwasher and started it since they hadn't been at home to do it after dinner like usual. Sebastian was standing and staring out the window over the sink when Kurt came back in.

Kurt walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. "Come to bed with me, gorgeous?"

"It's snowing just a bit again. Look. It looks so pretty as it falls and sparkles in the haze of the streetlight."

Kurt moved around where he could see. "It does." He stepped to the side and hopped up on the counter. He could see the effort Sebastian was putting into noticing the good things, beautiful things. He reached out and took his hand. "You're a great dad, Sebastian. The girls love you. I love you so much. It's okay for us to be sad. But it's also an amazing year too. We have two daughters and each other. We have this amazing house to live in. And we're building a life together, the four of us."

"I know. I had been doing okay until the Lego set. I'm okay now. We'll put it together. Can we do it tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course. We can put the other one together on New Year's Day like we had planned." Kurt pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around him. He began to hum the chorus of "Unconditional" as he held Sebastian close.

Sebastian took a deep breath. "I'm okay. The Lego just took my by surprise. I miss them, but they would want me to live my life to the fullest, not mourn them to the point of missing out on my own life, which is amazing with you and our girls. And I want to spend every moment I have doing my best to enjoy the time I have. My parents did."

"So, are you ready to come to bed with me?"

"Mmm." He tipped his head up and kissed Kurt. "I am."

* * *

Sebastian slipped out from under the covers and came back a couple of minutes later with the new blanket from the living room. "I want you to order another one of these to put on our bed." He laid it out over the top of their comforter. "But when it comes, we're remaking the bed so it's underneath where we can feel it because it's so soft." He slid back under the covers and turned his side lamp off.

Kurt scooted back into his side as soon as he was lying down.

"As soon as we warm up, I'm stealing your shirt."

"I'm sure I've read somewhere that skin to skin contact will warm us up more quickly."

"Oh, really?"

Kurt could sense the smirk on his face, even without being able to see him. "We could give it a try. We wouldn't need so many blankets if we just bought another one of those small room heaters like we put in the girls' room."

"But I like sleeping where it's chilly. We only got the little heater because little Miss Rose wouldn't leave her covers on."

"She's so sweet. Testing gravity with her blanket every night," Kurt chuckled. "I bet it looks pretty as it falls to the floor."

"Probably," he nearly snorted. "She's amazing. It's so cool to watch them learn stuff."

"It is. We could talk all night, but I already told my dad I'd meet him to get those papers in the morning."

"Right. So, shirts off." Sebastian squirmed a bit and tossed it on the end of the bed. "You're next. Or do you need help?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I've got it." He sat up enough to pull it off, but before he managed to get it over his head, Sebastian ran his fingers down Kurt's side, causing him to flinch and nearly squeal. "Aahh. Hey!" he tried to lower his voice quickly. "I'm all for a wrestling and kissing match, but not tonight."

"I know. Not tonight," he said dejectedly.

"You are such a drama llama."

"I happen to know that you like llamas."

"I do. They're adorable."

He pulled Kurt down under the covers and kissed him. "Well, you are gorgeous and all mine."

"I am all yours." Kurt kissed him and plopped over and scooted back into his chest. "I love you," he said, as he wrapped his arm around Sebastian's and placed soft kisses to his knuckles.

"I love you too." He nuzzled in and kissed Kurt's shoulder and sighed contentedly.


	18. Chapter 18

Christmas morning, Kurt left early to meet Burt in Marysville to get the packet of information he had. Sebastian walked him to the door and hugged and kissed him before he left. He took the coffee with him that Sebastian had made while he got ready and drank it on the way.

While he waited for Kurt to come back, Sebastian got an unexpected text from Mr. Montgomery. It opened with a wish for a Merry Christmas and told him to check his email for the requirements for stepparent adoption in their county. Sebastian read through the requirements carefully.

Kurt came back an hour after he had left. He parked in the garage, hung his coat up when he came in, and then went into the living room to sit down with Sebastian. He leaned towards Sebastian and kissed him. He had the unopened envelope in his hand.

"I figured you'd open it with your dad."

"Nothing was open where we could go in and sit down. And I just felt like I wanted to open it here."

"While you were gone, Mr. Montgomery sent me the guidelines for stepparent adoption. You can read them whenever you want. I forwarded his email to you already."

"That was quick." Kurt took his phone out and read through the list. "Well, he seems to have been very thorough."

"He was amazing last summer. I trust him to have given us all of the information. He was my dad's best friend. He's always going to do whatever is in my best interest."

"Perfect."

"Are you going to open the envelope?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah." He looked at it for a few seconds and took a deep breath. "Will you sit with me at the table?"

"Of course." He stood up and followed Kurt into the dining room.

* * *

Kurt grabbed a letter opener from one of the kitchen drawers he sat down at the table. He slid it carefully under the edge of the manila envelope and pulled out a second slightly smaller envelope that said:

_To be opened upon the death of Elizabeth Katherine Hummel_

He slowly drew the blade along the end of the envelope. Once it was open, he stalled. He put the letter opener to his right and held the envelope."I don't know why I'm so nervous to open it. It's just been so long –12 years now."

Sebastian reached up onto the table and put his left hand over the top of Kurt's and squeezed gently and let go.

Kurt picked the envelope back up and tipped it so the contents slid out onto the table. He didn't really process anything at first. He laid the manila envelope to the left and turned the stack so the pages were facing the right way.

Sebastian recognized several of the documents right away. Kurt looked at each item in the stack, still not really processing what he saw because he was looking for a letter or an explanation to read first, which he found about halfway down the stack. He used the letter opener again to open the envelope that said, "Read this first." It had two letters in it. Kurt looked at the first one and saw that it was addressed to Burt, so he didn't read it. He opened the second one that said "For Kurt when he is 18" and began to read.

_My dearest Kurt,_

_Happy 18_ _th_ _Birthday!_

_I hope it has been an amazing day for you. You deserve every happiness in life. I trust that you are enjoying whatever amazing school your dad found for you and that you've honed whatever knowledge and skills you'll need to study whatever field you've chosen to study to start your journey to the career that you've chosen. I'm certain of your success in whatever field you chose because you have never been anything but tenacious and thorough in you acquisition of knowledge and skills._

_At the writing of this letter, you are just 8 years old, but your inquisitiveness and unbridled joy in learning have been evident your whole life. You are by far the most naturally talented and skilled 8-year-old I've ever met. You have always wanted to know everything about everything. You've been asking questions since you could string two or three words together. Your curiosity pushed me to seek out knowledge just to answer your questions._

_I am writing this letter now because of the diagnosis I received not long ago. I am hoping to beat the odds, but in case I do not, there are a few things I want you to know, things I would have shared with you by now, if I were with you._

_I was born in France and grew up in there until I was 14, which is when I moved to Quebec. The details about this are in a safety deposit box in Cincinnati. I've included the key in a separate envelope. It's not a happy story, and I have never told it to anyone. Whether you want to read it is up to you. Obviously, I made my choice about the information._

_When I married your dad, I gave up my Canadian citizenship and became a naturalized American citizen. I retained my French citizenship. When you were born, I registered your birth officially. Amongst the items in this envelope you'll find are: a Livret de famille, which is where my marriage to your dad and your birth are listed, your French birth certificate, as well as mine, our French Passports, and ID cards. You will need to go to the French Consulate in Cleveland to get new Passport and ID card now that you've turned 18._

_The other documents in this folder are related to your inheritance, which you couldn't access until today. Up until now, your dad has only had access to the part of the money that I left to help cover the cost of raising you on his own. I hope the nanny cared for you kindly. I hope with all of my heart that your dad was able to find a private high school close by that met your needs, both academically and socially._

_You should be on your way to college in just a little less than a year. And I know you're researching universities and programs already. You have more than enough to attend any college of your choice without struggling to cover any of your expenses._

_If you choose not to read what's in the safety deposit box, please know that there is no need to go on a wild goose chase looking for relatives in France. There are none there for you to find. I don't have any siblings. You have no aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents to find there. I loved growing up in Paris and I hope that some day you'll travel there and love it as much as I did. If you start planning now, you could spend an amazing summer there between high school and college._

_I'm certain that whomever your dad hired to deal with my will is qualified to help you get everything straightened out now that you're 18 and have access to the rest of the money._

_I want you to know that I love you and your dad more than words can say. Burt rescued me in more ways than one on the side of the highway in Lima that day. He shows me his unconditional love every day and I will never regret a single moment I spent with him or with you, my beautiful and amazing son._

_I hope that you meet a man who loves you unconditionally, and that you love him with everything in you. I know that if you're reading this. I probably did not get to meet this man, but if you love him with no reservations, I know I would too. No one is promised a long life. I hope you're enjoying yours and living it to its fullest. I want nothing but the best for you._

_I love you with all of my heart,  
Mom_

When he finished reading it, he let Sebastian read it. He got up and got the box of tissues from the half-bath.

"It doesn't really give you much information. I saw the _Livret de famille_ when you slipped the contents out onto the table. I recognized it from seeing ours when I had to go through the stuff with Mr. Montgomery and go to the French Consulate."

"Actually, I didn't know any of this until Monday and all my dad told me was that my mom had given up her Canadian citizenship to become an American. I thought she was born in Canada and that she grew up in Quebec. I didn't know that she had ever even lived in Paris."

"Are you going to go pick up whatever is in the safety deposit box in Cincinnati?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell whatever it was to my dad. I'm not sure that I want to know. It doesn't really matter, does it? She loved him and me and her life with us. She was happy. That's the part that matters, I think. I like thinking of her being happy and she said that what's in the safety deposit box isn't. Maybe some day I'll change my mind, but for now, I'll pass." He folded the letter up and put it back in the envelope. He put the smaller envelope with the key back in as well and slid it away from him and started to look through the stack. "I never knew I had dual citizenship. If I had known, I might have run off to France when I turned 16 and things here were so bad."

"Like I did."

"Yeah, but I didn't have an aunt and uncle to go stay with, so the only way would have been to go to a boarding school there. It doesn't matter. It's just really surprising. She died when I was so young, I wasn't old enough to think of these types of questions. I didn't even really understand about being bilingual until I was in first grade and I got made fun of for speaking gibberish 'like a baby' when I was singing a song in French. My mom explained it to me when I asked her why they were teasing me."

"What all this says to me is that we need to contact Mr. Montgomery, but I'm pretty sure that this will make what we want to do easier. You're already a French citizen. I think you need to get Aliza's birth registered at the French Consulate right away, but we'll ask. We can go there tomorrow if we need to. I'm going to email him."

"It's Christmas Day."

"He emailed me earlier this morning, remember? He's not Christian."

"Oh, okay."

"First let's look at what else you have quickly."

"Besides the stuff she mentioned, I see some legal documents. A will. Some other papers in another sealed envelope that says to open it after reading the will." Kurt picked the will up and began to read.

Sebastian sent the email. He picked up Kurt's _Livret de famille_ and opened it.

"I'm going to have my dad come too."

* * *

Less than an hour later, Sebastian saw Mr. Montgomery's car coming down the driveway. He met him at the door to prevent him from knocking and startling either of the girls awake. He locked the door and set the alarm. Kurt took his coat and hung it up. The three of them sat down at the table.

"Before we get started, Wes said to wish you a Merry Christmas, Sebastian."

"Wait, Wes is your son?"

"You know him?"

"He was the leader of the Warbler Council when I attended Dalton."

"I didn't know that you had gone to Dalton. I haven't said anything to Wes about the two of you since Sebastian didn't say that I could."

"Maybe soon," Sebastian said. He turned to Kurt, who was making coffee and had pulled out the leftover desserts they had. "Wes and I grew up kind of like cousins since our fathers were best friends. He's just a year older than I am. We lost the close friendship we had when I went to France instead of Dalton for my first two years of high school. By the time I came back, he had graduated. We were two years apart in school because I repeated the second grade when we came back to the states when I was 8. But at least we knew that I had to attend an international school when I went for high school so my credits all transferred." He grabbed the plates and put them on the table and sat down with Mr. Montgomery. "How's he enjoying New York City?"

"He's loving it at Columbia. He was bummed when you opted not to go. He's just so busy. I'm not sure that he sleeps enough."

Kurt chuckled. "Probably not. I know I didn't when I lived there, but a lot of that was because I had to work so much."

Mr. Montgomery nodded. "He also told me to tell you that he finally got his act together and asked David out. They kept it 'on the DL', as he called it, since they started at Columbia, but they came out there in New York at the beginning of the semester, but they've come out to both families over winter break. Lana and I knew, of course, but David's parents only knew that he liked guys as well as girls, but he hadn't specifically told them about dating Wes. They had waited because David's grandpa was homophobic and xenophobic as well, but he passed away last summer."

"What a mess," Kurt said. "That's really rough."

"It would have been, but his grandma is a very accepting woman. She just wants David to be happy." Mr. Montgomery ate his slice of pie and drank his coffee. "This is really good." He looked towards Kurt.

"Sebastian made it," Kurt smiled when he saw the look of shock on Mr. Montgomery's face.

"Well, color me surprised," he said cheerfully. "You've learned to cook. And cook well. I'm impressed. He looked back at Kurt. "I'm still imagining that you had something to do with it or you both signed up for cooking lessons somewhere."

Kurt said, "I did teach him, but he was a fast learner."

Mr. Montgomery chuckled. "Sebastian, I know that you felt like you needed to make our relationship more formal, but I just can't get used to you calling me Mr. Montgomery. Can we come to some type of compromise? Where you still call me Uncle Daniel in private? Or at least Daniel if you feel the honorific of uncle is a bit childish at this point? I'd like Kurt to call me Daniel as well."

Sebastian acquiesced. "It does feel weird to call you Mr. Montgomery, but everything felt weird last summer. You went from being my dad's friend to being my legal representative."

"I get that." He finished his dessert and took the plate to the sink and washed and dried his hands thoroughly, using a paper towel to dry them a second time. "But I'd still like you to consider it."

"I'll call you Daniel. That way it's less formal, but it won't seem completely unprofessional."

"Thank you. Now let's take a look at Kurt's papers."

He moved back to the table and sat in the chair with the documents stacked in front of it, being extra cautious to not damage any of the paperwork. He looked through the stack of documents. He read through the translation Kurt had done of the letter that had been left for him. Fortunately, the will had been written in English. At one point he took his phone out and looked a few things up.

Kurt saw Burt's truck pull down the driveway. He got up and waited, and then let him in. He reset the alarm and hung Burt's coat up. Burt took a seat at the table where Sebastian had just placed a cup of coffee and a plate with a slice of pie on it.

When Daniel finished, he looked up. Kurt introduced the two of them.

Daniel looked at Burt. "So you have no idea what was in the envelope."

"No. I just remember Elizabeth telling me that it had information about her family and stuff and Kurt should get it when he was older."

"It was supposed to be open when she died. Her will and final wishes are amongst the contents." Daniel explained what was in the envelope in more detail for several minutes.

Kurt reached over and opened the envelope that had the personal letters in it and handed Burt's to him. He slid the box of tissues towards him as well. Burt opened the letter and within a few seconds the tears began to fall.

"Kurt, I didn't know. God, I'm so sorry."

"Dad, it's fine. I know you didn't know."

"Looking at the bank statements and using Google to do the currency exchange, your Elizabeth's assets are significant. Nothing is open for me to get any information on the current total. The numbers I'm looking at are obviously from 2001. I'll need to make a copy of everything in this file and I'll need you to sign the paperwork designating me as your lawyer, your legal representative. Or you're free to choose someone else."

"Sure. Our printer can copy things." Sebastian offered, "I can go do that now."

"Fronts and backs. All pages."

Sebastian nodded.

Burt handed Sebastian the letter. Daniel slipped everything into the outer envelope and handed it to Sebastian, who took everything to their study to make the copies.

"I'm glad that you and Sebastian have found each other. I heard some rumors about some trouble he had been involved in, but I never said anything to Zachary. It seemed short-lived, and we all do things we regret at some point, usually when we're teenagers."

Kurt nodded. "I don't know what you heard, but you're right. He made some bad choices and he apologized for them and quit making the same bad choices."

"He's a good kid." He paused. "Sorry, old habits. Wes gets onto me still."

Kurt smiled and nodded and looked at Burt. "He still calls me 'kiddo' half the time. I get it."

Daniel chuckled. "Sebastian hasn't told anyone about Rose. Does anyone know about Aliza?"

"Just my parents, and obviously her birth mother."

"Did you have a chance to read through the information I sent Sebastian yesterday?"

"We both did. We're ready to move forward. It's a tricky process."

"It is, but I did a lot of research and I'm certain about what needs to happen."

Kurt took his phone out and pulled up the email for Burt to read and handed it to him. He took it into the living room and read it.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Kurt spoke quietly. "I can't thank you enough for being willing to take on a complicated situation like ours."

"Zachary and I had been best friends since before we really remember anything. His mom, Dotty and my mom were best friends. I spent as much time at his house as he spent at mine. My mom passed away a couple of years ago. I still go and visit Dotty and Richard a couple of times a month."

"Now, that I think about it, I've heard her mention someone named Daniel, I just never put it together until now."

"I've seen the photos of the four of you on her fridge. She brags about the two of you all the time, and the girls too."

Sebastian came back in and caught the last part. "Are the three of you going over to their place?"

"We are. Thursday evening."

"I need to talk to Wes or have Grandma take the photos down while you're there. And put the high chairs in the spare room and shut the door." He put the envelope back down and put the file folder he had put the photocopies down next to it. He sat back down where he had been sitting. He ran his hands through his hair. "I'll decide today at some point."

Daniel nodded.

Burt came back in and sat back down. He slid Kurt's phone across the table to him. This time he picked up his coffee and drank some of it and began to eat the pie.

"So now what?" Sebastian asked.

"Well, the banks will reopen tomorrow and I'll start the process of getting all of Elizabeth's assets transferred to Kurt's and Burt's names. That will take a few days, I would imagine with this being a holiday week. Some of the people I need to talk to may be on vacation even though the bank itself is open. Plus, I will need an official interpreter to be provided by the bank. I don't speak any of the official languages of Switzerland well enough to conduct business. I read French well enough to know the basic meaning of the bank statements." He pulled a small stack of papers out. "I'll need you to sign these. The last one is a temporary power of attorney so that I can sign whatever the bank needs signed to get the process started as quickly as possible. You can sign a second one if I need more than two weeks to get things arranged."

He put the papers in front of Kurt and handed him a pen. Daniel signed each one and had Sebastian sign as a witness. He notarized each one with his stamp.

He turned to Burt. "I'll need you to sign as well, unless you have another attorney that you would prefer to represent you." He offered a second stack of papers to Burt.

He took them and began to sign. "No. I'm good. The Smythes' estate had to have been far trickier than this to handle and you obviously did a good job with that."

Once they had all been signed and notarized, he put them back in his briefcase along with the file folder containing the photocopied documents.

He stood up and offered his hand to Kurt and then Burt. "I'll be in touch as soon as I can give you any more specific information on how we need to proceed, hopefully some time tomorrow or Friday. I have your cell phone numbers."

Sebastian retrieved Daniel's coat and saw him out.

Burt said, "I'm so sorry Kurt. I don't know why I never looked through the envelope."

"I know you didn't know. You wouldn't have given up your honeymoon to Hawaii if you had known. I'm not angry. But you can definitely take Carole now. Book flights and a hotel for your next congressional break."

"That money is for you. It should have been to send you to Dalton for all four years or I could have bought a house and moved the shop closer to wherever I could find a good school for you."

"Stop." Kurt said abruptly. "This type of talk will change nothing. My letter from Mom said that she wanted us to keep on living. I want you to use the money that was left for you to care for me and send me to a private high school to take Carole to Hawaii and pay off the house in Huntsville. That will cut down on your expenses dramatically. I also want you to use whatever you need to pay any loans off you might have on the shop. Put the rest in savings for your retirement. Obviously, I'm not going to need any more financial support. I'm sure I'll be able to pay Amaline and for our groceries just from the interest."

"Will you two take the girls to New York now?"

"As far as I know we're staying here. We're happy here. If I decide to go to graduate school, I can pay for that now, even without a scholarship. I'll call you later and we can talk more. I know you need to get back home. I know you don't want to leave Carole home alone any longer than necessary since it's Christmas."

Burt got up and started to move his dishes.

"I'll get that," Sebastian said.

Kurt pulled Burt's coat back out and helped him into it. Once he had it on, he hugged him. "It's okay. Really. I love you. I'm certain that I liked being at the shop and learning to be a mechanic a lot more than I would have enjoyed sitting at home with a nanny."

Burt laughed and squeezed Kurt. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too."

* * *

Kurt and Sebastian put the girls down for their afternoon nap and returned to discussing the onslaught of new information from both from Kurt's mom and the details about stepparent adoption while putting the Lego cinema together. They had gotten it about halfway assembled when someone rang the doorbell. Kurt turned to go to the girls, hoping that their door being closed and the low-level white noise that their tiny heater made kept the doorbell from startling them. He opened the door and went in quietly.

Sebastian went to the door and looked through the peephole, he saw Wes and David. He could hear Nick, Jeff, and Trent discussing whether Sebastian was even home since they couldn't see his car in the driveway.

Sebastian opened the door.

The five of them turned towards the door when they heard it unlock. They began to sing.

_We wish you a Merry Christmas!  
We wish you a Merry Christmas!  
We wish you a Merry Christmas!  
And a Happy New Year!_

"Thanks, guys. What are you all doing out instead of spending the afternoons with your families?"

Wes said, "You know that my family doesn't celebrate Christmas, but I went with David to his family's gathering."

David continued, "We have a family breakfast, open a few gifts, and go home before lunch," David said.

"We did our family thing last evening," Trent said.

Jeff nodded. "Us too," he pointed to Nick and back to himself.

Nick said, "The rest of the Warblers we could round up will be joining us in a half-hour at our favorite Chinese place, and then we're going caroling."

Jeff continued, "And we've come to kidnap you to join in the fun. None of us has heard from you since school got out."

"You stayed here to go to school. I miss you at Columbia," Wes said. "Come have fun with us."

"I'm in the middle of something."

Jeff tried to peek around him. "I bet it's whatever giant Lego you got."

Nick said, "No one will miss you that bad. Come with us for a couple of hours. We haven't seen you for months."

"How about you let me change and get ready and I'll meet you at the restaurant?"

Jeff said, "Sure, I guess. We could just come in and wait. There's room for you to ride with us."

"I'd rather drive myself."

"Fine. We'll see you there in 30 minutes," David said. He corralled the rest of them back to his SUV.

* * *

"It's fine, Sebastian. I'm not angry," Kurt said. "I understand that you want people to find out on your terms and that doesn't include those five finding out today."

Sebastian cornered Kurt in their closet and kissed him senseless. As he caught his breath he said, "That's what I want to be doing. Or something, anything with you."

"I'll talk to my dad while you're gone. You can call your grandparents as soon as you get back." He stealthily and swiftly switched their positions. "I love you. Go have fun and sing with the Warblers."

"It would be a lot more fun if you came too."

"Amaline is not here. We can't just both leave without taking the girls with us."

"I know. I know. Being kidnapped to go caroling wasn't anywhere on my list of things to do today."

"Try to record yourself at least once. I want to hear you sing." He pressed in and kissed Sebastian soundly one last time. "I'll be here waiting." He winked at Sebastian as he stepped back.

"Damn, Kurt. Now, I really don't want to go." He finished buttoning his shirt and tucked it in. He pulled a deep olive green, v-neck, pullover sweater down from the shelf carefully. "Will this look appropriately festive?"

"Yes. And your new sherpa-lined Palladium boots you got a few weeks back will be perfect for keeping your feet warm while you traipse around outside in the cold, as you so boldly boasted about when you came home the first day you wore them and my feet were cold. I'm loyal to my Docs, but those have been tempting me."

Sebastian slipped his feet into his warm black boots, while making nearly erotic moans, teasing Kurt.

He ignored Sebastian's shenanigans and reached over to his own clothes and took soft winter scarf off his rack that was pale olive green with a red and white plaid pattern. Once Sebastian stood up, Kurt wrapped it around his neck and smoothed it out. "There, now you'll have something of mine with you."

Sebastian tipped his chin down and sniffed. "It smells like you." He leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I love you. I'll try to have fun, but only because you want me to. I'd rather stay here with you and the girls instead." He kissed Kurt again.

"Go on. Get your coat on and get going. They left ten minutes ago."

* * *

Sebastian pulled up to the restaurant and hurried inside since he had dawdled kissing Kurt in the closet when he was changing. He stepped inside and saw where the group was sitting. He gave his drink order to the server who asked him on his way to the table. The restaurant was a buffet, so he grabbed a plate of food on his way over as well, so he wouldn't just end up getting right back up. He put his plate on the table and his coat over the back of his chair and had almost sat down when he realized that Blaine was sitting next to Trent, who was sitting diagonally across from him.

"We're glad you could make it," Wes said. He was seated directly across from Sebastian and to Trent's left.

Sebastian nodded. He thanked the server that sat his drink down before she walked away. He began to eat and tried to ignore Blaine's presence, which turned out to be impossible since he spoke directly to him as soon he began to eat.

"That's a nice scarf. Kurt had one just like it."

He looked and Blaine and lightly shrugged, hoping that he'd drop it, but luck was not on his side.

"It's rare. He got it from some auction on eBay. He told me the whole story, but I don't remember anything other than how thrilled he was to find such a rare vintage Burberry scarf."

"It was in my closet. It's warm and it matches my coat. That's all I can tell you. I don't know its detailed provenance."

Blaine let it drop.

Trent spoke where everyone could hear him. "Speaking of Kurt, I tried to invite him today. I've been doing a lot of thinking about high school and I feel bad about how we treated him. We were all too caught up in winning and we never took the time to get to know him. I tried when he first came, but he was so closed off and only seemed interested in talking to Blaine. I was kind of put off when he turned down any invitation to spend time with me or the group, but I was just young and stupid, mostly. I didn't think about how he had come into an academically challenging school mid-semester. He always said he had too much work to do, but I didn't take his answer at face value. Looking back, I'm sure he did have too much work to do. And by the time spring semester had started, I had just quit trying, under the assumption that he was just blowing me off."

Jeff piped up. "Blaine told us to give him space and let him get more comfortable before we bombarded him with attempts at friendship."

Wes said, "I didn't do a good job of welcoming him either. He had been an endearing spy as David said, but when he transferred, I didn't trust him. I don't have the excuse of being 15 like Trent was. I just shot his idea down publicly and shut him down. It was rude. I still owe him an apology for that. Blaine should have explained to him how the Warblers worked before Kurt arrived that day. That would have prevented him from making suggestions without following the proper procedures."

Nick said, "Looking back, I think the auditions were rigged. That day we waited, Kurt asked us how many times we had auditioned and I began to wonder why no one besides Blaine ever got solos. It's not like it matters now, but nepotism seems to be the obvious answer."

Wes took a deep breath and let it out. He looked across at David, who nodded.

"You're right Nick. I'm ashamed to say it. Blaine caught me and David in our room. We were juniors. He was a freshman. I was supposed to be helping him during orientation week. I knew he was coming, but I lost track of the time. He opened our dorm room door to find me sitting on David's lap, both of us shirtless and kissing. Obviously, we weren't out. School rules don't prevent students from dating, but there are rules against same-sex couples sharing a dorm room, boyfriends spending the night in the same dorm room, and girls spending the night in guys' rooms. We told him that we weren't out and that we both had beards who went to Crawford Country Day who were doing the same thing we were – sharing a room and dating."

"Oh, wow," Nick said. "Talk about high school soap opera material. So you two have been together a long time."

David was the one to answer. "Since we were 15. We had been assigned as roommates randomly when we started as freshmen. We became best friends quickly. I thought I was straight because that was the default. When in reality, I had never really considered it because I had never really had a crush on anyone. I was big into soccer, and it was my life – not girls. I was also a bit of a late bloomer, not really starting puberty until after I was at Dalton. I realized by winter break that I was feeling some not quite 'friendly' feelings towards Wes. It took a few months before I felt comfortable enough with myself to tell him. We've been together ever since. We just told my family last week."

"We were going to tell everyone today," Wes said. "So, now you know."

Blaine looked stunned, but said, "Trent, I don't think you'll have much luck finding Kurt unless you're willing to hire a PI. He came back to Lima for Finn's funeral in March, and then again three weeks later for the memorial at McKinley but only stayed a couple of days. Rachel got Fanny, so she dropped out of NYADA midterm, knowing that she wouldn't have time to devote to both. She left New York for a time of 'renewal' she called it before rehearsals were set to start in July. Anyway, I moved to New York right after graduation and moved into the loft where Kurt, Rachel, and Santana had been living. Santana had no idea where Kurt went when he left, other than 'home'. No one does. The Hummels sold their house in Lima. No one even knows where they live now. So, it could be a while before you can do that apologizing, Wes."

"Why were you looking for him?" Trent asked. "He seemed to make it pretty clear that he didn't want to get back together with you."

"I had given him space after he turned me down in March, which I didn't do initially like he had asked me to. I thought maybe after doing what he asked, he'd be willing to talk to me."

Jeff said, "I think you should learn from your mistakes and just move on."

"That was back in June. I'm not over him, but I'm not just sitting around waiting for him either. There's a lot of fun to be had by single guys in New York City. But yeah, I'd still take him back."

"Take him back?" Jeff asked, all while looking at Blaine like he had lost his mind. "Kurt broke up with you, man. You cheated on him. He's, like, the most loyal person on the planet. And two weeks after he left, you cheated on him. That's why I wasn't there that day. I knew, but he had sworn me to secrecy not to tell anyone, so I bowed out claiming a family obligation on Saturday."

Trent looked shocked. "You asked us to help you propose to him when you had cheated on him?"

Sebastian got lost in the accusations and frustrated statements being lobbed at Blaine.

Eventually, Wes took control. "Enough!" he said firmly, not too loud. "This topic is closed."

Sebastian went back up to the bar to get some more of the string beans and mushrooms in garlic that he loved so much. He took a few pieces of the crispy honey chicken and some grapes from the salad bar and sat back down. The topic had changed to where the current seniors had applied to college, which was an improvement over Kurt as the topic.

He hadn't been at Dalton when Kurt attended, but hearing that even tenderhearted Trent had given up on trying to befriend Kurt hit him hard. And Wes had come down on him in public for not following the rules the day he joined the Warblers? Kurt had left to escape a death threat and ended up mostly alone with only Blaine for company because Blaine had told the others to give Kurt time to adjust? What a mess! Kurt had described it as "lonely" and "rigorous academically", but that he had enjoyed the coursework. Sebastian understood a lot more than he had previously about Kurt's time at Dalton.

It wasn't long before everyone had finished. They bundled up and headed out to do the caroling that Wes had planned, which turned out to be a lot more fun than Sebastian had thought it would be, but he also missed Kurt and the girls. As soon as they finished singing at the retirement center, he went home to finish assembling the Lego cinema with Kurt and to play with the girls.


	19. Chapter 19

Kurt was going to call Burt while Sebastian was gone, but he realized that they still had some details to work out before he could, so he used the time while the girls were asleep to make a loaf of banana nut bread and start getting the things together that they would need for the next two days. He prepped their dinner in the Instant Pot insert and put it in the fridge so it would be ready to cook for dinner. He made himself a sandwich that he could eat easily and pulled out some raw vegetables to snack on as he came in and out of the kitchen. He did all of their laundry as well.

Once the girls woke up, he changed them and brought them out to the playard. Not long after putting them in, Rose started calling out for Sebastian.

"Papa." She started out calm, but when he didn't come within a couple of minutes, she became more insistent. "Papa, Papa, Papa!"

Kurt went to her and spoke calmly to her. "Rose, sweetie, Papa isn't here right now. He had to go do something."

"Papa!" she said at the top of her voice before she began to cry.

Kurt picked her up. "Oh, I know, sweetie. I miss him too, but he'll be back in just a little bit."

"Papa?"

"Papa loves you. He'll be back soon. How about some music and we'll turn on the flashing lights?"

"Wites!"

Kurt turned the dining room light off and closed the kitchen blinds to get the room as dark as possible, but since it was early in the afternoon and the upper windows had no coverings, it only helped a bit. He let her push the button to make the lights on top of the cabinets start to flash red.

She squealed and clapped. "Wites!"

"Daddy's going to put you back with Aliza and go turn on your favorite CD." He sat her down and went to the living room.

She hadn't started to cry again, so he quickly made her a sippy cup of formula and made a bottle for Aliza. He put Aliza in her reclining bouncy seat so she could feed herself because the oven was about to beep for him to take out the bread. He put it on a rack for it to cool, turned the oven off, and checked on them both again.

Rose had put her cup down and pushed it away. Kurt picked it up and dumped the contents into a bottle. He stepped over the edge of the playard and moved the toys so he could sit criss-cross facing Aliza. Rose crawled over to him and climbed into his lap. He picked her up and tilted her back and offered her the bottle. She opened her mouth and let him put it in. She didn't try to take it from him and she just laid back sucking and staring into his eyes. He could still see the tear stains on her cheeks from crying for Sebastian. He kissed her on the forehead.

She stopped sucking, pushed the bottle away, and said, "Muah." She grabbed the bottle back and stuffed the nipple back in her mouth and started to kick her feet while she drank the rest.

Kurt shifted his attention between them. It was easier once Rose started to hold the bottle. Kurt was able to run his finger down Aliza's cheek and play with her toes while she drank her bottle.

That's how they were sitting when Sebastian opened the door. His heart melted when the three people he loved were interacting so sweetly. He rearmed the lock, took his boots off, and left his coat over a chair. He climbed into the playard with them.

The instant Rose saw him, she sat up and squealed, "Papa!" and lunged for him.

He reached out to catch her.

"We missed you. Can you tell?" Kurt teased, as he picked her bottle up and handed to Sebastian.

"I see my beautiful family." He leaned to the side and kissed Kurt. "I love you." He ran his fingers down Aliza's leg and tickled her foot. "And I love you." He looked down into Rose's eyes. "And I love you."

She pulled the bottle out of her mouth "Wub."

"Yes. Love. Lots of love. I see you turned the lights on."

She kicked her feet. "Wites!" She let go of her bottle and clapped. "Wites! Wites!"

Sebastian picked her bottle back up. "Did she eat yet?"

"Not yet." Kurt got up and grabbed two containers of baby food while Sebastian moved Rose to her high chair. He put Aliza in hers as well and stuck a couple of toys on her tray for her to play with.

After Rose had been fed, they put the girls back into the playard with different toys to entertain them for a while so they could talk.

* * *

When the girls went down for their afternoon nap, Kurt and Sebastian moved into high gear. Kurt went into the laundry room and Sebastian went into the pantry so they could each call their families without the disturbing the girls.

Kurt folded their socks and underwear from the last load he had done earlier in the day while he talked to Burt and Carole.

Sebastian used his time to pack up some containers of baby food, pack some snacks for himself and Kurt, and made sure the ice packs were all in the freezer.

When they had both ended their calls, they sat in the living room together looking through store websites to plan for their day-after-Christmas shopping the next morning.

When the girls woke up, they did their regular every day activities that the girls were used to. After their dinner, dancing time, bath time, and book reading time, they put them to bed for the evening and went back to their work on the Lego they had started that morning before their day went from one of planned relaxation to one of surprise revelations, complicated laws, and quick, detailed planning.

* * *

Sebastian fastened the last piece in place. Kurt went to get the camera and took a picture of it assembled.

"That was a lot of fun," Kurt said. "Very detailed, but really cool."

Sebastian stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Kurt. "That was the most fun that it's ever been. I've always enjoyed putting them together, but doing it with you made it a lot more fun." He kissed Kurt. "I think you make everything more fun."

"Well, you'd be the first to think that."

"Well, I do."

"How about we bring the tablecloth back in here and put the canvases and the paints out on the island so we're ready for some fun when Sam gets here?"

"Sure. We need to get packed as well and get some sleep since we have to leave so early."

* * *

Cleveland

Kurt and Sebastian managed to make it to a mall in Cleveland the next morning at 11:00. They had the girls in their carriers on their chests, facing inward as they headed inside. They stopped in Express first. Sebastian got in line while Kurt picked up the shirts and ties they had chosen when they had done their window shopping online. They paid quickly and headed to the center of the mall.

"I think we're going to have to get a double stroller," Kurt said. "When I was home with both of them yesterday carrying each of them around at time, it dawned on me that I bet Aliza will be too heavy for Amaline to be able to carry her in a front pack and push Rose in the stroller by this spring. And we already know how difficult it is to get the backpack carriers on."

"I think you're right. We'll start looking at them next week when we go to Costco. We won't be spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's, so maybe we can swing up to the outlet mall if it's not subarctic. I could use another few pairs of jeans. Out of the ones I bought this fall, I've decided I like the way the Levi's 514s fit."

"Or you've decided that you like the way that I like that they fit."

"That was very convoluted, but I think my answer is yes." He squeezed Kurt's hand.

Kurt winked at him. "There is a Levi's outlet there."

"Mmm hmm. And that pizza place you like."

"Shh…" Kurt teased. "This is about you getting jeans you like."

"Mmm hmm."

They went into the jewelry store they had chosen and had their fingers sized first before they began to look through the case of men's wedding bands and rings.

Kurt saw one they liked in the selection of titanium rings. He pointed to it. _"There it is."_

" _Where?"_

" _Second row, fourth column."_

" _Oh, it looks nice in person. Let's get the clerk to get it out."_

Kurt turned to find someone. He made eye contact with the woman who had sized their fingers.

"Did you find something you like?"

Kurt pointed to the ring. "That one, please."

"For which one of you?"

"Both of us," Sebastian replied.

She looked at them rather oddly, but kept her thoughts to herself. She pulled out the ring on display, which was Kurt's size. She put it on the glass counter top. She unlocked and opened the lower storage case and pulled out the same ring in Sebastian's size and placed it on the counter as well.

Kurt slipped it on and resumed speaking to Sebastian in French. _"I like how the edges are smooth and shiny, but center portion is hammered. It's not super thick or wide, but it's definitely masculine. The thing that caught my eye last night was the honeycomb pattern in the textured part. The honeycomb is one of the strongest geometric structures, and it can withstand a lot of pressure. I like the symbolism in it. Together we can stand strong."_

Sebastian tried his on as well. _"I like the style. It's not overly ornate, but it's not completely plain. It's smooth and textured. That kind of reminds me of life in general –smooth parts and rougher parts. I really like what you said about the honeycomb structure. It fits comfortably. It's lightweight, but I know it won't bend because it's titanium. It's smooth on the edges like you said, so it won't cut in."_

" _Do you see any that you like more?"_

" _I'm pretty set on this one, but I'll look again to see if there are any that weren't online that catch my eye.. You can go look around just to be sure."_

" _I'll take one pass around the cases. I'll come right back."_

Sebastian looked in the case and saw a sign that said ~Today Only. Buy one, Get one 75% Off. Select rings only.~

"Are these rings part of the sale?"

"Yes, sir."

Kurt came back a couple of minutes later.

" _I like these the best."_

"I didn't see any others I liked more either." Sebastian motioned for the salesclerk. "We'll take them."

"Right this way, sir." She put the rings in the boxes and moved to the register.

Sebastian said, _"The line here's not too long, but you could go ahead down to Target and grab the wipes, the ready-to-serve formula, and some of those stretchy lace headbands to keep Rose's hair out of her face. I'll head there as soon as I get through the line. I'll wait near the checkout by the exterior doors to the parking lot. That way we can get be at the consulate on time to meet Daniel."_

Kurt nodded. _"I'll grab everything quickly and meet you by the front, like you said. Could you get in line at the café and get us one of those fruit smoothies we both like? To split?"_

" _That does sound really good."_

* * *

Rural Western New York State

That evening, Aliza started to cry about 30 minutes away from their motel. It had been a long day for the girls and a complete change from their routine. Kurt pulled over and Sebastian managed to squeeze in the middle between the girls. He sang and played with them and Aliza stopped crying within a couple of minutes. Kurt pulled back out onto the road and they made it to the motel without anymore tears.

They took the playpen and the girls in first. They took their coats off and put them in it with a few toys. They took turns bringing in the rest of their stuff. They had all eaten dinner earlier. They had planned their arrival at the motel to be just 30 minutes before the girls were used to going to sleep. They fixed the girls' bottles, read them a few stories, changed their diapers, and put them down in the playpen to sleep. They played some music the girls were used to hearing at bedtime and eventually they fell asleep.

Once they were sound asleep, Kurt and Sebastian showered quickly and got in bed and snuggled up together facing each other so they could speak quietly.

Kurt ran his hand down Sebastian's cheek and kissed him. "You're sure this is what you want to do?"

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"Not at all, but I just want to make sure this is what you want."

"It is."

* * *

A Courthouse in Rural Western New York State

Kurt and Sebastian stood facing each other in front of the judge. The six adults formed a semi-circle. To Sebastian's left stood Richard and Dotty, who was holding Aliza. To Kurt's right stood Burt and Carole, who was holding Rose.

Kurt was wearing a deep magenta shirt that matched the dress Rose had gotten for Christmas from Carole. Sebastian was wearing a plum shirt that matched Aliza's dress. Carole and Dotty wore black dresses and had managed to find accessories the day before that coordinated along with two ties for Burt and Richard to wear with their black suits.

They had decided on a short ceremony of vows they wrote and a simple ring exchange in hopes that the girls' attention spans wouldn't be tested past their tolerance. Carole had brought two new single-piece, silicone pacifiers in pink and lavender to give both of them something to suck or chew on or keep their hands occupied, as needed.

The officiant started promptly. "We've gathered here today for the marriage of Kurt Eli Hummel and Sebastian Moreau Smythe." He looked to Sebastian to begin.

"Kurt, I stand here and pledge my love to you. I promise to remain faithful to you. I want to be your partner for the rest of our lives. I want the two of us and our daughters to be a family. Knowing that you love me both calms me and makes my heart race. You see me for who I am and who I can be. You bring joy into my life every day. Whenever I finish my day, I smile all the way home thinking about how you'll be here. When you look at this ring on your finger, I want you to know how very much you are loved." He slipped Kurt's ring on to his finger.

"Sebastian, being with you is the most amazing experience. You've become my home, where I feel like I belong. For the first time in a very long time, I feel whole, not because you complete me or because we are two incomplete halves, but because I don't have to hide part of myself around you. I can be all that I am without reservation. I love you with everything that I am. I'm excited to raise our girls together as equal partners. I give you this ring as a symbol of my never-ending love for you. I promise to love you and be faithful to you as we spend the rest of our lives together." He put Sebastian's ring on him.

The officiant said, "Do you Sebastian Moreau Smythe take Kurt Eli Hummel to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and honor, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Do you Kurt Eli Hummel take Sebastian Moreau Smythe to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and honor, forsaking all other, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do"

They took a small step towards each other and hugged before they kissed. Rose began to clap when they kissed. They turned to the girls who had done an amazing job of listening to them speak to each other. Aliza joined in with Rose's clapping.

Kurt stood in front of them and took their hands. "As your daddy, I promise to love and care for both of you as my daughters, neither one being preferred over the other." He kissed them both on the forehead and then let Sebastian move closer.

"As your papa, I promise to love and care for both of you as my daughters, neither one being preferred over the other." He kissed each of them on both cheeks.

They took the girls from Carole and Dotty and moved to stand in front of the officiant.

"I now present to you the Hummel-Smythes."

They turned and faced their families. They were hugged in turn by everyone. They moved to the side of the room where the marble wall made a nice backdrop.

They stood together for several photos. There were individual shots of Kurt and Sebastian, shots of the girls with them, and group shops. Kurt had specifically chosen this courthouse in Western New York along lake Erie because they offered the option of a photographer for a reasonable fee. All they had to provide was an empty SD card for the photographer to use.

Once the photos were done, the paperwork was ready for them to sign. They handed the girls off to their grandparents and finished up. They left the room and waited for the paperwork to be stamped and filed, which didn't take long since there was no one else there two days after Christmas.

Once they had their official copies, they six of them went out for breakfast. Afterwards, they hugged and said their goodbyes.

They stopped by motel long enough to change and turn in their room key. They had packed everything else in the SUV before they had gone to the courthouse. From the motel, they drove to Lake Erie just long enough to look out over the water for a few minutes standing together next to Sebastian's SUV while the girls slept in their carriers.

Kurt turned to Sebastian and reached for his hands. He moved so that they were facing each other. "We're married."

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist. "We are. I'm really happy about it too. I love you."

"Me too. And I love you." He kissed Sebastian gently. "It's freezing out here. Let's get going. We've got a nearly four hour drive ahead of us and Sam will be there within an hour of us getting there."

* * *

Drive from Rural Western New York State to Dublin

Kurt put his hand on Sebastian's thigh and rubbed his thumb across his leg. "So, I know we've talked about it, but I think I really want to draw a hard line of anyone knowing anything about the girls. They're children, but I still believe in their agency. They have the right for people to know their stories once they understand their stories and they're ready to share them. And we haven't even remotely figured out how to deal with what we're going to tell them and when yet."

"I get that. We hadn't really considered from that aspect before – about it being their story for them to share or not."

"Especially after what you told me about the dinner at the restaurant on Christmas. Blaine had no issues with admitting that he tried to find me, even if it was a while ago. And he asked other people to help because otherwise he would have no idea that my parents didn't live in Lima anymore back in June. And he repeated what Santana, Rachel, and Sam had said. And you said that he's waiting for me to come to my senses and go back to him?"

"And he tried to flirt with me. Yuck."

Kurt took a deep breath. "It's still hard in a lot of ways. It would be easier if I could just hate him. But despite all of his flaws, I had been so alone when we met that he was just this ray of hope. He talked to me about things I liked. I mean I realize now that our friendship was very shallow, but honestly if I could have kept my 'Oh, he changed his mind and likes me romantically' over-the-top reaction from happening, he and I could have continued to be great friends. A lot of guys have friends that they mostly just hang out and do things with and eat together. They all get together and go to a sporting event and they go out to eat afterwards. Or they watch a televised sporting event on a big-screen TV and order in pizza or something. They watch the game, and then rehash it together afterwards. They talk about stats and trades. It could have been the same kind of thing for the two of us. And it was for a while. We went to old movies playing at a rinky-dink theater, and then went out to dinner. We also watched old movies and ordered food in. We went out for coffee and discussed fashion and _Vogue_. I mistook all of that for casually dating, whereas he saw it as us being gay 'bros', as Finn called the guys he hung out with."

Sebastian chuckled.

"And after he serenaded Jeremiah, I told him that I had feelings for him that went beyond friendship. He turned me down, and that was fine. I was crushed of course, but it was fine. He was being honest. He saw us as friends. I took a step back after we had a disagreement and we both said things we shouldn't have. What he said hurt a lot, and I stepped back for some space. And I had nearly gotten over my crush. Less than a month later, he did a 180. I should have stopped him from kissing me and had a talk with him. Instead he kissed me, and the teeny, tiny flame that was still smoldering from my crush burst into a skillet fire like you see on those fire safety videos."

Sebastian snorted.

"I know. I know. And in the end, it really turned out to be a case of he loved how much I loved him. And anything that prevented from Blaine being the center of my universe resulted in him doing something to change the situation. If I had gotten Tony, my focus would have been turned towards learning my part. If I had won Senior Class President, I would have spent time focusing on that. He became intentionally distant after I got my callback letter for NYADA. He publicly accused me of cheating on him for texting with Chandler for three days. Again, my focus was on reading stupid puns from another guy, so he lashed out. He refused to see the parallels between him texting you for three months. The real difference was that during those three months, not only did he have my attention, but he also had yours, so he wasn't pushed out of the center of my world. So, it wasn't the same. Anyway, I got off on a tangent. He and I were suited to be good friends, the type did things together and talked about things – not issues, or feelings, or anything that actually really matters. It's like sitting around and arguing over who to put on your fantasy football team. Guys do it and they have fun, but it has nothing to do with real life. He and I could have argued over who influenced men's fashion designs more in the '60s, which would have been fun to do, but it would have nothing to do with real life. It should have dawned on me how absolutely shallow our relationship was when Cooper show up to visit him at school one day and I didn't know he had an older brother."

"That's nuts."

"It just annoyed me that he brought up the fact that he's been looking for me at the restaurant. It was also really frustrating that he was there. I had hoped since he spent two years at McKinley and won Nationals and came in second this past year that he'd just align himself with them and that you'd be able to be a part of the Warblers stuff. And maybe even me too once we decide to be more open about everything, but if he's going to show up to everything for both groups, on top of living in New York where quite a few of the older New Directions went, that pretty much puts him at the center of everything, just the way he likes it. I guess the only upside is that Jeff's little slip of how Blaine had cheated on me knocked Blaine down a few rungs. Maybe he'll think twice about participating in the future. Plus, Wes's confession about why Blaine always got the solos probably put some doubt into the minds of a few of them that graduated last year."

"How did Jeff even know? From what was said yesterday and what you've said, you weren't really close to any of them."

"Jeff was always really nice, like he'd sit with me and eat lunch, but he never pushed beyond that, but from what you said that had more to do with Blaine than it did with me or Jeff, or anyone else I guess. But anyway, he was actually in New York City last fall maybe a week or so after Blaine had been there. He was going on some campus tours and I was sitting in Central Park sketching trying to clear my mind and focus on something else. It was before I went to see anyone and I was still blaming myself. He recognized me and came over to talk. He was friendly like he had always been when I was at Dalton. At that point only Rachel and Finn knew what had happened. And Jeff being nice just led to me confessing what had happened and me browbeating myself over how I was stupid to have lost Blaine. He took the bull by the horns and gave me a little kick in the butt and reminded me of what deep down I knew. Cheaters cheat and the only person responsible for cheating is the cheater. He was on his way somewhere and couldn't stay and talk for very long. He gave me his cell phone number. I never ended up calling him, but he promised not to tell anyone when I asked him not to. And he kept that until yesterday, which is fine. It may not be common knowledge, but it's not a secret anymore anyway. And yesterday was a good time to use his not-so-secret knowledge."

"I agree. What do you want to do about Sam? We were originally talking about what to tell him about the girls until you took a detour to get off your chest what you needed to about Blaine."

"You're right. I did need to say that stuff out loud. Things swirl around in my mind and when I actually work to put them together to say them out loud, I get them more organized."

"It really does help."

"Back to Sam. I love Sam like a brother, the brother I never had. And I think you two are going to hit it off like wildfire. He's funny and talented and he likes a lot of the same things you do. I really don't want him to be in the position of knowing details right now. I already told him that we had brunch with your grandparents and my parents this morning to explain why we delayed the time for him to arrive. Completely true, but not the complete answer. I told him that my parents drove your grandparents to the airport in Cleveland to fly out to see your aunt and uncle for the next week afterwards, which made sense since we have plans with him."

"Okay. He's going to want to know how long we've been married once he sees our rings."

"I think that's where I'm just going to draw the line. No details. We're married, we have two daughters, and we don't give him an explanation of where they came from. That way if someone corners him when he's drunk and starts to question him, he can't give out information and details he doesn't know."

"True."

"Not that I'm saying I've ever seen him that drunk because I haven't. But what he doesn't know, he doesn't have to keep secret. We're already going out on a huge limb by telling him at all. When I agreed that I was in the wrong to keep him away without giving him a choice, I didn't know that Blaine had tried to find me. I just don't want to deal with him. Why can't he just butt out of my life?"

"Maybe you should invite him to dinner yourself. Have Sam text him to set it up. Be sure to request a booth. Let Blaine sit first, and then sit across from him so that Sam can sit next to Blaine to keep him from leaving."

"Interesting idea. Sam could sort of be a buffer. He probably still has Blaine's number. I could text him now and have him text Blaine to meet up for coffee this afternoon before Sam comes to the house. You can drop me off and take the girls home. I'll ride with Sam back home."

"That could work, as long as Blaine doesn't try to follow you back to the house."

"Hmm. I'll have to think about that. But that would give you a chance to invite Wes over. You two could sit and have your talk and he can meet the girls. It's not like he's never met me. As soon as he sees the fridge, he's going to figure it out."

"That seems reasonable. You can text Sam now and work it out before he leaves. And I'll text Wes when we switch and you drive while I feed the girls."

* * *

Kurt was standing outside on the sidewalk outside Starbucks when Sam pulled up. Kurt jumped in and gave him directions. "I opted for Marysville because as far as I know, he's still living in Lima. Maybe this will solidify the idea that I don't live nearby."

"Good afternoon to you, Kurt. It's been six months since I've seen you and the first thing I have to hear is about him?"

"I'm sorry, Sam. You're right. I was just trying to get a jump on the details. It's only about a 20-minute drive. I'm glad you're here. I've really missed you."

"Same, but you've been getting more and more distant. I was actually really surprised that you invited me."

"You'll understand a lot more when we get home."

"Back to your statement about him living in Lima. I don't actually think that he does. Did you ever actually meet his parents?"

"No, why?"

"Neither did I and I spent a lot of time at his house. I peeked around. The other two bedrooms were furnished, but the times I peeked into them, they always looked exactly the same. Like nothing had moved. It was weird."

"He said they traveled a lot."

"Whatever, I guess. I just didn't bother asking."

Kurt took his left glove off at the first traffic light they had to stop at. He put his hand on the steering wheel where Sam could see.

Sam looked confused and looked down. "You're married?"

"I am."

"You got married and didn't tell me," his voiced dropped. "I'm hurt, Kurt. Actually, I really am. I thought I'd get to be your best man when you got married."

"I couldn't figure out how to make that happen. We couldn't get married in Ohio, of course. We had to drive out of state. We went to a really tiny town and got married by a judge. Just four people were there besides us."

"Your parents and his."

"Close, but I'll answer the rest later. I just want you to know that it wasn't because I didn't want you there. We're not ready for people to know."

"Is your husband in the closet or something?"

"Definitely not. Like I said, you'll find out more when we go back, but I just need to know if this is what you want. You'll know things that I'm not ready for people we both know, people I used to consider friends, to know. And there will still be details I can't share because they aren't mine to share. You can decide whether you want to be part of this or whether you just want to wait for me while I go in and talk to him. You can drive me back to Starbucks and head back to Kentucky. I'll give you the money for the gas. I'll have S–". He realized his almost faux pas. "I'll have someone come pick me up."

"Kurt, stop. I came because I wanted to see you. I still want to spend the weekend at your place. I'm assuming you live with your husband."

"I do."

"Well, at least something makes sense," he teased. "Do you love him? Like _really love_ him?"

"I do. He's amazing. He really gets me."

"I get you. At least I did until you started being vague and closed off."

"But you're straight. And you're my best friend. At least, I hope you still will be after you find everything out."

"Well, I don't have any intention of giving my spot up, but you didn't give me a chance to be there for you when you got married. That's going to take a little time to heal from. That really stings."

"I'm sorry. I really am. It's hard to keep secrets from you. I know I sound like a broken record, but you'll understand more in a couple of hours."

They rode the rest of the way with Sam talking about what was going on in his life. They parked down a couple of blocks and over one street in a lot that wasn't visible from the coffee shop they were going to. Kurt planned their route back. They'd go browse through an antique and vintage shop he liked, and then go back to Sam's truck and drive home.

When they pulled into the parking spot and got out, Sam was waiting at the end of the truck bed and as soon as Kurt got close enough, Sam pulled him into a bear hug. "God, I missed you. No more secret spy stuff and shutting me out."

"Got it. Let's go get this over with."

* * *

Blaine was already there when they arrived. They waited for their coffee and went to sit with him. Sam sat next to him, Kurt across from him.

"It's really great to see you, Kurt. You too, Sam. I was surprised to get your text."

Kurt spoke first. "It came to my attention that you're holding a torch for me, that you seem to have the impression that we'll get back together eventually. I felt the need to make sure that you know that we will not be getting back together, ever. I knew you had asked Sam about my whereabouts at one point in time, so I asked him to contact you and come with me. And before you jump to conclusions, Sam hasn't been to where I live. He picked me up at a pre-arranged location."

"Why all the secrecy?" Blaine asked.

"I want to live my own life. I've grown up and gotten some help. I realized that the majority of people I had considered to be my friends were just acquaintances, including you."

"What?"

"You knew so much about me because I opened up to you, regretfully. But you never did the same. Our conversations were about things – never about anything of meaning. Cooper showed up at McKinley when we had known each other 18 months and had been dating over a year and I didn't even know you had a brother. I've never met your parents. I'm not going to go into it any further. I just want to make it clear that nothing you do will change the fact that I am not going to get back together with you. You need to move on. Get some counseling. It really helped me."

"So that's it?"

"That was it the day you let someone else fuck you. It was over the instant you made the decision to let that happen. So, somewhere around 15 months ago."

"That was a mistake."

"That was a choice." Kurt slipped his gloves off and placed them on the table next to his coffee cup. He put his left hand out where Blaine could see. "I've made my choice. I'm married, Blaine."

Blaine moved his cup to the side to get a better look. "That's fake. You're just doing this to hurt my feelings."

"Actually, you're not the center of my world anymore. You haven't been for about a year. It took some time to heal from what you did, but I've been fine for quite a while. And I'm in love with my husband."

"But Kurt…"

"There is nothing left for me to say Blaine. You were my first love, but you chose to destroy that. And honestly, I'm glad you did. I have never been happier than I am now. I wish you the best." Kurt put his gloves back on and picked his coffee up.

Sam followed his lead and started to stand up.

"Sam?" Blaine looked at him with those doe eyes, practically pleading. "I thought we were friends. We lived together in New York until like two weeks ago."

"We were roommates. I wanted to try out modeling. I don't know that we were ever friends. We did things together. We were 'bros' like Finn called all of the guys he hung out with. Kurt and I have been friends, real friends for years, nearly three now."

"You told me you didn't get his humor."

"I promised him that I'd spend time with you, to keep you from being so lonely without him. You and I had never spoken more than a couple of words to each other. You openly slut-shamed me for stripping to help my parents. What was it to you? None of your business was what it was. I let that go and did what Kurt asked because he's my brother. Even though he's been MIA, we talk all the time. I don't have to know where he lives to be his friend. I stayed around after you two broke up because I made a deal with Kurt. I'd keep you away from him as much as possible by keeping you busy."

"Now, you're just being awful."

"No, that was you when you told me that I was your 'guilty pleasure' while you were planning to propose to Kurt." He stood up. "Kurt told you the truth. I've told you the truth. You need to move on."

He and Kurt stood and left the coffee shop.


	20. Chapter 20

Their excursion through the vintage and antique store yielded a purchase of a gorgeous, tall, green carnival glass vase by Kurt. Even though the clerk had wrapped it in newspaper, he held it carefully as he climbed into Sam's truck.

"Okay. So, that's over," Sam said. "I kind of feel bad, but not as bad as I probably should for letting him go on thinking that we were friends for so long when I didn't feel that way about him."

"I appreciate all of the effort you put into keeping him away from me. If I hadn't gone to therapy once I started at NYADA, I think things would have turned out differently, at least emotionally for me. I would have still been drawn to take him back, although I wouldn't have. That's what was different. I just didn't have any desire to after getting help. Enough of him."

"You can just give me directions instead of me using my phone."

"Okay. I want to go by this shop that has really nice flowers for a decent price – to put in this vase."

"Sure. You tell me which way to go."

* * *

Wes pulled down the driveway about an hour after Sebastian had gotten home. He had just finished getting everything put back away. He moved the girls from the playard to their cribs with a few toys to keep them occupied when he went out to wait. He grabbed his coat and stepped out onto the small back porch to wait for Wes to come up the steps.

"Before we go in, I need to apologize for shutting you out and letting our friendship slip away."

"Sebastian, stop. I was the one who left and got so caught up in my life in New York that I didn't check on you, even after–. We stayed in contact while you were in Paris and you came back and I flaked out. I got caught up in pledging and just everything. I wanted to be an adult and leave my life in Ohio behind. It's not all on you. Let's go inside. It's cold."

"I don't want to go inside unless you're serious about wanting to be a part of my life again. I'm willing to take the step to confide in you, but only if you want to be good friends again. I know you have a life in New York and I assume that you've made another best friend in my absence."

"I haven't. There's David, of course, but you already knew about the two of us. And I have a lot of acquaintances. The guys in my fraternity. People I know from classes. But I haven't opened up to a lot of people. I'm friendly. I'm not close to anyone, other than David. And hopefully with you again." He stepped closer and hugged Sebastian. "I really dropped the ball and I'm sorry. You came back to Ohio right after I had left for New York. I got so caught up in life in the Big Apple, I just–" he sighed. "Let's go inside."

Sebastian opened the door and Wes followed him inside. He hung his coat up, and then took Wes's and put it in the closet it as well.

"Did you get a puppy?"

"What?" Sebastian turned around quickly after shutting the closet door.

"You have a big play area gated off."

"Oh. No puppy. Follow me."

Wes's confusion was still evident on his face, but he followed Sebastian down the short hallway and into the end room to the left. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he could see into the room.

Before Wes had a chance to ask anything, Sebastian said, "This is my daughter Rose and my other daughter Aliza." Since Rose was past her clingy stage, Sebastian picked her up first and stepped closer to Wes. "This is Wes. Can you say 'hi'?"

"Hi," she repeated.

"Can you say his name? It's Wes."

"Wef! Wef! Wef!" she practically squealed and kicked her feet and then clapped for herself.

"Well, she's enthusiastic and adorable."

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Will she let me?"

"She hasn't met many people yet, but I don't see why not to at least try." He turned her. "Can Wes hold you?"

Wes held his arms out and she reached out for him. He took her and sat her in his arms facing Sebastian. "This is what my cousin Vanessa had me do with her baby back when I was in high school."

Sebastian nodded. "I remember Vanessa. I didn't know that she had had a baby." He turned to pick up Aliza. "Let's go over to their playroom. We can talk in there." He stepped past Wes and went into the playroom and closed the door behind them. He put Aliza down on the floor and got a basket of toys down. "You can put Rose down too, if you want."

"Oh, my," he said, watching Aliza. "She can crawl. She's so tiny."

"She saw Rose doing it and couldn't be left behind. She is young to be able to crawl, but she's got it down to a science now."

Wes put Rose down and she crawled off to get to the toys. He had a huge smile on his face watching them pick stuff up and squeak it or bang it to make a noise.

Sebastian extended his left hand to get Wes to look.

"You're married? You're 19."

"I'll be 20 in a few months."

"Still. Married and two kids. Wow."

"I'm happy, Wes. Really happy."

"Well, I'm glad for that. How did all of this happen? I mean I know your parents had enough money for you to hire a surrogate, but two? Why would you want two kids when you're just starting college?"

Sebastian knew this was coming, but he still hadn't figured out what to say. "This is why I haven't told anyone. I don't want to answer that question. No one knows except my extended family and my husband's immediate family."

"So, you got married, had kids, and you're closeted? You've been out since you figured out you liked guys. You've been out longer than I have."

"We're not closeted at all. We go out around here together all the time. I'm sure the neighbors all know that we're together. We take the girls out on walks in their carriers or strollers pretty often. We handed out candy on Halloween as a family. It's not a secret."

"I don't get it. Strangers and your neighbors know, but your friends don't?"

"I think what you don't get is that I don't really have any friends. Just like you answered outside. I didn't have a best friend anymore. I had acquaintances at Dalton. People I was friendly with, after I got over myself. But I never opened up to any of them. None of them knew where I lived until you brought them here on Christmas. Jeff only knew about the Legos because he told me his parents bought him a Porsche for Christmas last year and asked me what I got. And I told him a 2000+ piece Lego set. He laughed at me until he realized I didn't seem to be teasing, and then he asked me to prove it by taking a photo and showing him after I went home that weekend, which I did."

"Oh. I didn't realize that you hadn't made any close friends amongst the Warblers."

"Things changed, Wes. I screwed up trying to push the group to be more competitive. We spent more time dancing and working on super hard harmonies than we did helping each other with schoolwork or whatever you did before Blaine came. What was left of the brotherhood was destroyed by Hunter."

"That was a travesty. Hunter's name has been officially stricken from the Warbler's roster as of a few weeks ago."

Sebastian shook his head. "Striking his name from the roster does nothing to undo the damage he did."

"I know. They have a faculty advisor this year to oversee the rehearsals now. I met with him. We're having another meeting soon. I'd like you to attend. We're to planning for the Warbler's Bicentennial concert in May, the evening before graduation."

"Bicentennial concert?"

"The school broke ground in 1812. A single class of ten 16-year-old students who had finished what schooling was available at the time enrolled. They studied in a house on the property the first year. By the beginning of the second year, the classroom wing of the building had been built and they opened enrollment to more young men, starting with 14-year-olds. They held their first graduation ceremony in May of 1814. The Dalton Warblers' Bicentennial Concert will be in celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the first class that graduated from Dalton Academy and the first Warblers' concert that took place as part of the graduation ceremony."

"I never knew that about the school or the Warblers."

"Thad should have made sure you knew this. He was the returning member of the council the year you started."

"In his defense, I remember him giving me a booklet to read that I ignored."

Wes's eyes were drawn back to the two girls when Rose squealed in frustration. Sebastian got up and grabbed the box of cloth books she obviously wanted. He sat down on the floor with her and read one of them to her before he went back to sit on the love seat with Wes.

"The group has a triumvirate Warbler's Council again and a lead singer. They are working on their Regionals pieces, one of which will be chosen for them to perform at the concert, along with a piece from Sectionals. I've watched the performances from the two years you sang lead and I'm suggesting 'Live While We're Young' and 'Stand', but you can chose something else if you'd like. Lead singer gets to choose. Whistle' isn't an option though. The new faculty advisor says the content is inappropriate and should never have been performed by the group."

He chuckled. "Okay. The songs you mentioned are fine. Plus, Hunter was the one that chose 'Whistle' and sang lead on it. And as for inappropriate, you were in charge of the group when Blaine sang 'When I Get You Alone' and outed a GAP employee."

"Right. I mentioned having quite a few high school regrets. That's definitely one, but I didn't know we outed him. Now, I feel worse about it."

"It gets worse. He got fired too."

"Oh, God. Well, I'm not sure what I can do about it now." He sighed heavily. "Moving on. From the two years before, Blaine has already chosen 'Animal' and 'Misery'."

"I don't think I know 'Animal' or the title just isn't clicking."

"If you watched the videos from the year before you came, it's the one with Kurt and Blaine sharing the lead in a warehouse type setting with a bubble machine."

"I remember watching that once."

"And the two years before Blaine came, I was lead singer. The group mostly sang barbershop quartet style music. The guys that were on the council for the last 50 years or so are working their own stuff out. We'll have 8-12 other songs besides the six pop songs that are recent. We'll have the details settled later on. We'll intersperse the pop songs between the barbershop quartet stuff to keep the audience entertained. So, despite Trent's lack of success in finding Kurt, that's still on my agenda since he was part of the group under my leadership. I should have insisted that they sing 'Animal' instead of Blaine's lame suggestion of 'Candles'. That was a terrible choice. Blaine has no vibrato and Kurt is the ultimate duet partner. I watched some videos of him that Blaine had from McKinley. I screwed up with him."

"Save it for him when you talk to him."

"Right."

At that moment, Kurt and Sam pulled up outside next to Wes's car. Sam grabbed his bags and followed Kurt inside. He reset the alarms and took Sam's coat and put both his and Sam's in the closet. He filled the new vase with water and trimmed the flowers to fit. He left the vase sitting in the center of the island since Sebastian had obviously moved canvases off on the island when he came back since their plans had changed.

"I know this seems weird, but I'm going to show you to the guest room for just a minute. You can hang up anything you need to. I'll be right back for you. It seems like we're alone and I'm going to make sure everything's okay."

"Yeah, sure." Sam followed him. "Is this what you want help with?" Sam asked when he saw the canvases on Kurt's desk.

"It is, but we can talk about that later. We had a change of plans after the issue with Blaine, so we'll get to the painting a little later."

"Okay." After put his stuff in the closet. He looked around the room a bit before he sat down at Kurt's desk and waited.

Kurt pulled out his phone and texted Sebastian since the house was so quiet, but then he heard the playroom door open.

Sebastian held his hand up for Wes to wait for a minute before he stepped out into the hallway. He pulled Kurt into a hug and gave him a quick kiss. Kurt took his hand and led him to the kitchen.

Sebastian immediately saw the flowers. "They're beautiful. Thank you. I love the carnival glass vase."

"I thought you would."

"Deep red dahlias and a beautiful orange rose. Hmm. Yellow roses are friendship and red are for love, but you don't like them anymore. Tell me the meaning of the orange one."

"Well, according to the florist – passion, desire, and enthusiasm."

"I see. And the dahlias?"

"Commitment, honesty, and inner strength."

"They're perfect." Sebastian kissed him gently. "I love you." He took a deep breath. "Wes is in with the girls."

"Sam is in the study."

"Let's put the girls in the playard and bring our guests out to the dining room."

"Sam doesn't know about the girls yet. Can you take Wes to the living room and let me show Sam the girls?"

"Of course."

Kurt stepped in the study and waited until Sebastian had taken Wes to the living room. He opened the study and said, "Come on."

Sam followed Kurt across the hall and stopped short when he could see two babies crawling around. "You have two babies."

"I do." He picked Rose up and introduced her to Sam. "This is my daughter, Rose. Can you say hi to Sam?"

"Hi, Dam."

Sam said, "Hi, Rose. You're a cutie pie." He held his arms out and she reached for him.

Kurt moved to pick Aliza up and brought her over.

Rose pointed at Aliza, and then at Kurt. "Wiya! Dada!"

"This is Aliza, as Rose just said."

Sam smiled and winked at Aliza. "You're a cutie too."

Kurt kissed her on the forehead, which made her smile and kick her feet.

"Aliza hasn't started to talk much yet, but she's working on it, aren't you, honey?"

She smiled even bigger and started to coo and babble.

"Let's go out to the living room where my husband is sitting with his estranged, well, hopefully no longer estranged, best friend." Kurt left the room and walked towards the living room.

At nearly the same time, Wes said, "Kurt?" and Sam said, "Sebastian?"

Rose began to call out, "Papa! Papa!"

Sam stepped closer and handed Rose to Sebastian and sat down on the end of the sectional closest to the dining room. Wes was sitting on the other part at the far end. Kurt sat next to Sebastian who was sitting on the longer section, but close to the corner.

"Well, now you both know," Kurt said.

"So that _was_ Kurt's scarf on Christmas?" Wes asked, chuckling.

"It was, but my answer was completely true. The scarf was hanging in my closet, which also happens to be Kurt's closet, and I had no earthly idea where it had come from, just that it matched my outfit." He smiled. "And it smelled like Kurt."

Kurt shook his head and blushed slightly.

Wes said, "Well, I guess my search for Kurt has come to a quick end."

Kurt looked confused.

Wes explained quickly.

"I see. He and I had a talk this afternoon about how we're never getting back together. He may not want to sing 'Animal' with me anymore."

"I've already sent the sheet music out to everyone in the group from that year, except you because I didn't know where to send it. The songs won't be changed. People have already been practicing."

"Fine. I'll sing with him, but I'm not practicing with him in person until the day of the event or whenever the dress rehearsal is. I can tell you exactly why he chose those two songs. Listen to the lyrics. I'm obviously not taking him back. But I'm an actor and I'm completely capable of getting up on stage and pretending to be in love with him or whatever it is that you want me to do. The mask will go on the instant we step on stage and come off the instant we step off."

"That's fine with me," Wes said. "It's a performance."

"It's getting close to time to put these two down for their afternoon nap," Kurt said. "Let me grab their bottles. I know you two don't know each other, but we'd like to change that. So, we'll leave the two of you here for about 15 minutes a while we them to sleep."

Sam nodded.

Wes said, "Sure."

* * *

Kurt couldn't quell his curiosity and fed Aliza her bottle standing in the kitchen where he could hear the conversation in the living room.

Wes spoke first. "I remember you came to Dalton and delivered pizzas. Kurt was excited to see you that night."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. He and I hadn't quite made it to the close friends stage at that point, but it was good to see him. All we wanted was for him to be safe. We hoped he was happy and enjoying himself at Dalton, but safe was the important part."

"Safe?"

"You don't know why he went to Dalton?"

"I spoke to him the day he came to spy on us. I got the impression he was being bullied for being gay. David and I didn't stay long. We weren't out. Blaine knew that. He sent us away saying that we had girlfriends after Kurt asked if all three of us were gay."

Sam nodded. "It's his story to tell. If he wants to share it, he can when they come back. You seemed as shocked as I was. Sebastian was an ass to Kurt his senior year."

"I'm thinking that most of the people Kurt knows have been an ass to him at some point in his life, except maybe you."

"He had a friend at NYADA that wasn't."

"That makes two, then."

"Were the guys at Dalton not nice to him? I'm confused. He never said anything negative about anyone."

"I'm getting the impression that he keeps his feelings close to the vest."

Sam shrugged. "I guess that depends."

"Anyway, Blaine told everyone that he needed space and extra time to do his schoolwork because he was way behind academically."

Sam laughed. "Kurt tutored me in everything. I'm not sure what on earth Kurt could have been behind on other than actual assignments, if they made him do things from before he showed up that semester."

"I've figured out a lot of things in the last two days, most of them not good. But today has been a surprise. Sebastian and I go back to when I was 17 months old and he was born. We were apart when his mom took him to Paris for two years when he was like six and seven, I think. Or maybe it was five and six. Either way, he came back and we went right back to being best friends. You know, at that age time doesn't make any sense anyway."

"I remember trying to explain time to my brother and sister. They're starting to get it, but they're getting close to nine now. My last name is Evans, by the way. Sam Evans."

"Wes Montgomery. My dad was Sebastian's dad, Zachary's best friend. I called him Uncle Zachary growing up. He calls my dad Uncle Daniel or did until last summer."

Sam looked clueless and shrugged.

"Sebastian's parents died last summer. My dad was their attorney. Uncle Zachary was ours. Our fathers grew up as best friends, living in Westerville, which is where Sebastian's paternal grandparents still live. Mine too. Well, just my grandpa now. Sebastian spent a lot of time with my dad getting the issues of the estate settled. He quit calling him 'uncle' then."

"I didn't know about Sebastian's parents. That's awful."

Wes nodded. "It was. They were really great people. They were genuinely kind, which is unusual. I miss them. It only really hit me when I came home last weekend that Sebastian would be here in the house alone for the holidays. He stayed in Ohio instead of coming to Columbia like I was sure he would since it was his dad's alma mater. His dad and mine were roommates and then joined the same fraternity that I'm in. I brought a few of the Warblers over here on Christmas Day to carol and convince him to come to eat with a group of us. I had no idea that I had interrupted his Christmas with Kurt and the girls."

"So you two were friends growing up," Sam said to refocus their conversation.

"Oh, yeah we were. He was two grades behind me in school, but he was tall and really smart, so it never felt like he was younger. My parents live in Columbus, not that far from here, but in a different school district, so we never went to the same school. Anyway, I started at Dalton when he started middle school. He went to Paris for 9th and 10th grade, which were my last two years at Dalton, and then he came back the first year I was at Columbia. We kept in contact while I was at Dalton, but when I went to New York, I just left my past behind me, including him, which I really regret."

"So, you don't know anything about his history with Kurt?"

"No, not at all. I was just surprised to see Kurt because Trent and I hadn't been able to find him. I didn't know Trent had been looking for him until this past week, but I had tried to find him a few weeks back to send him the music we were talking about a few minutes ago. I didn't know he had broken up with Blaine until then. Basically when one of the event coordinators called me to round up the Warblers that were in the group when I was the Council leader was when I started looking for everyone's addresses."

"So, I'm assuming you found out about the failed engagement from some of them?"

"I did, but not the cheating since none of the Warblers knew about that. So, you and Kurt met a few years ago."

"Yeah, my family moved to Lima from Tennessee. I started at McKinley when Kurt was a junior."

Kurt left to put Aliza in her crib and went back to the living room, followed by Sebastian. They sat back down where they had been, only this time their hands slipped together with their fingers interlaced.

Wes took a deep breath. "I want to start with an apology, Kurt."

His eyebrows furled a bit. "For what?"

"Did you not tell him?" Wes looked at Sebastian.

"He told me the part about Blaine catching you and David _in flagrante delicto._ "

Sam said, "I have no idea what that means."

"It means that Blaine caught me and David, my boyfriend, making out shirtless in our dorm room when I lost track of time and told Blaine to meet me there, and just let himself in. I was a junior and his assigned mentor."

Sam burst out laughing.

"Ah, but it wasn't funny at the time. Neither David nor I were out, and Dalton has a 'No Couples' policy for roommates."

Kurt interjected, "Which he and David obviously broke all four years they were there. And I thought you were such a straight-laced, stick in the mud with your gavel and severe leadership style." Kurt thought for a moment. "You were Blaine's mentor when he enrolled as a freshman? Like at the beginning of the school year?"

"Yes, why?"

"Oh, nothing." Kurt let it drop, not knowing how to process it against Blaine's claims of having transferred to Dalton due to bullying.

"So, wait," Sam said. "Did he threaten to out you or something?"

"Actually, he didn't, but we lived in fear that he would, so we kept him close."

Sam offered, "Keep your friends close and your potential secret revealer closer?"

"I didn't care, but it was David's homophobic grandfather, his mom's father, who was a Dalton alumnus and his benefactor, that was paying his tuition at Dalton."

"Ouch," Sam said. "So you said Blaine sent you two away, saying that you had girlfriends. They were your beards."

"They were roommates at Crawford Country Day, dating each other. The four of us went on double dates."

"Got it," Sam said. "So, you gave Blaine the position of lead singer to keep him happy."

"Basically. He's talented and charismatic, so it worked well, but there were other people who were equally or more talented."

"So, why aren't any of them being given a chance to sing lead at this Bicentennial Concert?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that part. Anyone who has been a Warbler can join with any other Warblers and turn in a submission to perform at the concert. They're hoping for some cross-generational submissions, but it also gives people a chance to have some fun. The concert is set to last for about two hours with an intermission. So, there's time for other groups. Once all of the songs have been submitted, an order will be determined to break up the styles of music like I said earlier. During some of the songs, there will be videos and photo montages of the last 200 years at the school."

"Sounds like it will be pretty cool," Kurt said.

"Back to my apology. The first day you arrived at rehearsal, I was unaware that Blaine had not adequately educated you on the proper way to present ideas to the Warbler Council. I came down on you, trying to be gentle since you were new, but I apologize for publicly correcting you as harshly as I did. I should have corrected Blaine for not giving you the information you needed."

"But you never did because of what he knew."

"Right." He switched subjects. "I brought up remembering Sam from delivering pizzas and that you were glad to see him. He said he was glad to see that you were safe, but when I asked him what he meant, he said it was your story to tell."

"Oh, I enrolled at Dalton because someone at McKinley had threatened to kill me. Sam got decked trying to defend a couple of the other guys who had gone to confront him to leave me alone."

"So, this guy was big enough to take Sam?"

"He's got a good 50 pounds on Sam, but from what I heard Sam slammed him into the locker bank pretty hard – twice." He looked at Sam and winked. "He only didn't get to kick his ass for me because the football coach caught them fighting."

"He would have gotten his ass kicked if Puck hadn't been on probation. The two of us could have taken him easily."

Kurt smiled even bigger. "I'm sure, but it's better that you didn't. I wouldn't have wanted you to get expelled on my behalf." Kurt turned back to Wes. "The guy in question and I have worked out our difference since."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You mean you were you, and you forgave him for being a closeted jackass."

Kurt shrugged. "More or less. But he seriously apologized and he lost his mom when he came out. That's more punishment than I would wish on anyone. I've been there." He squeezed Sebastian's hand.

"I didn't know," Sam said.

"That's because it's his story to tell, but it's also public information since the divorce is matter of public record. Anyone who knew them personally knows that she moved back to wherever her family is from."

Wes said, "Well, I am really sorry for how you were excluded. We all just believed Blaine – that you needed a lot of space and you needed extra time to catch up."

"Not after winter break I didn't. I started the spring semester on even footing."

"I should have checked on you myself. I delegated a responsibility, but then I should have done the follow-up, which I did not. I'm also sorry for allowing that travesty of a duet for Regionals. I've watched videos of you since I started looking for you. I've seen some duets of yours with other people and some of your solo performances–"

Kurt interrupted him. "How?"

"There's a bunch posted on YouTube. Fairly good quality. No wobbly camera work and the sound is decent."

"Lauren or Artie, or both."

"I don't know what that means," Wes said.

"It means that someone mounted recording devices in the choir room."

"Some were from the stage, but they were at an odd angle, now that I think about it. Anyway, I could clearly see that you are capable of matching anyone's singing style. When we let Blaine go with 'Candles' as his choice, we didn't take into consideration his lack of vibrato. You, being his partner, matched that and sang without vibrato. It was a ballad-like song, given its tempo, and it really didn't suit Blaine's singing style. If we hadn't been trying to learn the whole thing in a week, one of us would have noticed and told you to sing without suppressing your vibrato. I watched you sing 'Some People' and it's in the same range and you sounded amazing. I was really wrong about a lot of things. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm guessing that he didn't tell you were auditioning to sing the song you chose for solo audition. Wait, that was kind of convoluted. When someone auditioned for a solo, they weren't just auditioning their voice, they were auditioning to sing lead on the song they presented."

"Really? You're right. I had no idea. When he said that I had been given a chance to audition for a solo, he told me it was because I had shown a good attitude when you reprimanded me. That was all he said, other than the time and place of my audition. I chose a song to show off my voice because I had been allowed to join the group without anyone hearing me sing. I thought you wanted to hear me sing to decide whether I was good enough for a solo. If I had known I was auditioning the song, I would have picked something by Madonna or P!nk or Lady Gaga. Something in my vocal range that would have had parts for everyone in the group to be a vocal band. No wonder I didn't get the solo. 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' wouldn't have been a good song for the group."

Wes sighed heavily. "I'm really sorry, Kurt." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Wes, it's all over. It's been over a long time. I forgive you for whatever you think I'm holding against you, which is actually nothing, but I don't want you to feel like you need to sit there and rehash everything you think you did wrong because you found out that I wasn't trying to pull a Jesse St. James and woo your lead singer into giving up your secrets to turning a group of teenage guys into a vocal band."

Wes shook his head. "I was ridiculous. I know."

"I think everyone is ridiculous at some point in high school. No one knows who they are and everyone is trying to fit in. No one feels secure in their position no matter how high up the social ladder they are. You were busy trying to keep the person you loved from losing his access to a topnotch education and from losing your access to him. If he had been forced to leave Dalton and go to public school somewhere, you would have hardly had time to see him. You were protecting him. I was protecting myself by going to a school my family couldn't afford." Kurt looked at Sam.

"I was delivery pizzas in Westerville to protect my brother and sister from being homeless when the company my parents worked for let them go with no notice and closed the Lima office. They both made good money, and then _poof_ – none. After seeing me that night I delivered pizzas, Kurt came back to Lima that weekend and brought me clothes and food. He tutored me on Saturdays before my shift started. My truck didn't have a camper, so he let me drive his Navigator that had tinted windows a few times after he came back to McKinley. He still had his valid Dalton parking sticker. I pulled in the lot and slept in the back to save me the gas of driving back to Lima. When I went back to Lima after living in Kentucky for a while, his family let me live with them, even when I had to repeat my senior year, which is not something I want to talk about. Kurt protected me. When some people at school took photos of us together at the motel my family and I were living in, he never once waivered. Even when they accused him of cheating on Blaine with me, he didn't tell them I was homeless and living there. We all protect the people we care about." He leaned forward a bit and looked at Sebastian. "You're lucky I'm straight or I would have asked Kurt out."

Sebastian smiled. "I know how lucky I am."

"Good," Sam said. "I still don't understand how you two ended up together though."

"That's not on the list of topics for today," Kurt said, somewhat abruptly.

Sam was undeterred. "The last time I saw him was in March at the failed proposal. He and the rest of the Warblers that were left joined in with the New Directions and the choir from the deaf school to serenade you."

"Also not a topic for today. I've talked about Blaine more than I ever wanted to again today."

Sebastian looked at Sam. "I'd appreciate an apology for the nightmare that you and Blaine created by turning us into the Show Choir Board rather than turning Hunter into the headmaster."

"Like we did when you attempted to slushie Kurt and instead nearly blinded Blaine? Fat lot of good it did turning you into your headmaster. Nothing happened. Nothing."

"That's not true. I was called in. I explained what happened. I was given a stern lecture on my unsportsmanlike and ungentlemanly behavior that reflected poorly on the great institution of Dalton Academy. I served weekend detention for a month."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"It took place off campus, Sam. There wasn't much that could be done. I hadn't bullied a Dalton student. I hadn't broken any specific Dalton rules. There's no rule that says, 'Dalton students are prohibited from throwing a slushie at anyone on an opposing show choir team in a parking garage in Columbus.'" He paused and took a deep breath. "And being lectured helped me realize what a jackass I had become. After I thought about it for a while, I told my parents that I wanted to see a therapist. I apologized to Kurt, Santana, Rachel, and Blaine in person. I changed. Do you think Kurt would have married me if I hadn't?"

"That's a hard question to answer. He stayed with Blaine for a long time, and he didn't treat Kurt right at all."

"Touché. But Kurt also went to counseling. You know that. I know he told you. He's not desperate for scraps of affection anymore. Other than you, no one in that ragtag group of amazingly talented people never treated him right."

"That's true," Sam admitted. "Even after he moved to New York."

Wes looked between the three of them. "I'm really lost."

"How about we let Wes and Sebastian catch up since they haven't talked much in quite a while obviously. Sam and I talk on the phone or text every day. He and I have a project to work on." He turned to Wes. "You'll stay for dinner, right?"

"Sure. Thanks."

"Great." He squeezed Sebastian's hand before he got up. "Let's go turn those canvases into cute sea animal paintings for the empty walls in our playroom."

"Come on, Wes. You can watch me be amazing in the kitchen. We can talk while I prep dinner."

"You can cook?"

"I can," Sebastian responded confidently.

Sam followed Kurt through the dining room and into the study, leaving the other two behind in the kitchen to do some more catching up while they painted. 


	21. Chapter 21

Wes turned one of the dining chairs around and scooted it a bit closer and sat down to stay out of Sebastian's way while he prepped dinner. He pulled out ground pork, and started to brown it and season it.

"So…"

"Yeah," Wes said. "Why does Sam think you're not good enough for Kurt?"

Sebastian answered him honestly and told him the whole story from his junior year over the course of 20 minutes while he prepped the meat, made the sauce using the recipe that he and Kurt liked best, and layered the sauce, the meat, the spinach, and the different cheeses in the pan and put it in the fridge to put in the oven a little later.

"Wow. That's some story. Some of it seems to be a bit vague, but I'm guessing those are the parts you don't feel comfortable because they're more Kurt's story than yours."

"Yeah. Let's go back into the living room." Once they were comfortable, Sebastian continued. "He's been so amazing. He just gets me in a way that I didn't even realize that I needed. He's been through a lot. Do you remember the really tall guy that was part of the New Directions when Kurt went to Dalton?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't remember his name or anything, but someone that tall always stands out."

"Finn."

We nodded.

"His mom and Kurt's dad got married the weekend before Kurt started at Dalton. So, Finn became his stepbrother. He died this past March."

"That's really sad."

"It is. It hit Kurt hard because he felt like they were finally getting to a place where they felt like family. I won't go into it anymore because it's Kurt's personal life."

Wes nodded. "How are you doing? I know your parents weren't big on celebrating Christmas, but it's still got to be a hard time."

"I broke down Christmas Eve. We came back from Grandma and Grandpa's and Grandma had given Kurt a gift to bring home without me seeing. He brought it in and put it on the ottoman and the instant I picked it up, I knew it was a huge Lego set. Mom bought it last spring when it was released and left it at Grandma's so it wouldn't be here for me to accidentally see. She did that every year, even after I was far too old to go sneaking around looking for it. Kurt just pulled me into his arms and held me until I cried myself to sleep. We're good together, Wes. Really good."

"Are you trying to convince yourself or me?"

"Neither. I know we are." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't realize the residual animosity that I felt towards Sam."

"I don't get it either. Explain what went on between the two of you."

Sebastian went through what had happened with Hunter from his own perspective of Hunter being brought in to replace him to supposedly get the group in top shape to perform.

Wes listened carefully. "So, Blaine, with Sam and Finn's support, turned the whole team in for doping when it hadn't been everyone."

"Right."

Wes considered all of the information he had. "He did have a point. From his perspective, you were a jackass bully who targeted his closest friend, and who miscalculated and injured his teammate. Nothing of any consequence that he could see happened when his director went to the Dalton headmaster. And from what you've said, the New Directions had been slushied for years. There's a lot of pent up anger behind being targeted like that for so long. I've been hit by snowballs in the face, and I bet being hit with a slushie feels a lot worse because it just drips down everywhere with those tiny pieces of ice melting as they touch your skin. And snow is just water, so it doesn't burn your eyes. My bet is that you just hit a real sore spot. Kurt went to Dalton to escape people who bullied him, to what extent I don't know, but he mentioned a death threat. And you showed up in uniforms that Kurt trusted and attacked him personally. It's not like you brought enough slushies to target every member of their group. But you picked out his best friend, who, from my take on this, was their most bullied member. And given that Kurt had to leave McKinley when his life was threatened, that means that McKinley did nothing when they were bullied. So, I'm sure they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw people they thought were Kurt's friends backing you up when you threw a slushie at him."

By then, Sebastian had his head in his hands, hunched over with tears streaming down his palms and cheeks. "I get it. I get it." He wiped his eyes. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Sure." Wes leaned back, closed his eyes and relaxed.

* * *

Sebastian knocked gently on the study door and opened it. "Can I talk to Sam for a minute?"

"Um, yeah. Sure. Give me a sec." He put the paintbrush down and followed Sebastian out of the room and into the laundry room.

"I was talking to Wes and he gave me a perspective that I hadn't considered."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What are we talking about?"

"The slushie incident in the parking garage."

"Okay. Go on."

"What you said was true. Kurt just forgave me when I apologized, but I never considered the bigger picture until just now."

"What bigger picture?"

"I wasn't at Dalton the year Kurt was. I never considered what it would be like to have a group of people that he had considered to be at least friendly acquaintances go along with me belittling him in the way all of the bullies at McKinley had treated the New Directions for years."

"It wasn't just the New Directions, dude. Kurt endured targeted bullying from the beginning of high school because he was a loser. Him and Rachel. JBI, and like 20 other kids, but he got it the worst. The jocks threw the guys in dumpsters, gave them swirlies, locked them in port-a-potties, slushied them, other things. The girls just got slushied. The jocks all thought Glee Club was stupid, but then when Finn joined, and Puck, and the cheerleaders, only the cheerleaders were spared and I figure that's because even the football team was afraid of Coach Sue killing them if they got slushie on the Cheerios uniforms. I was the quarterback on the football team, and the instant I joined Glee I was a loser and got slushied. The dye burns your eyes. It ruins your clothes and whatever you have in your hands at the time. It's not like they slushied us wearing swim trunks while standing in the locker room so we could shower easily afterwards. We had to have extra clothes at school. We'd get tardies marked in our records for being late from having to change. Kurt endured that for two full years before I ever showed up at McKinley. And the Warblers were supposedly Kurt's friends. I told you that he never told us that everyone practically ignored him. For him that was friendly. You just don't get it. The guys at McKinley acted like Kurt had cooties. Even Finn. Especially Finn. The guys in the New Directions were better than most. Anyway, you brought a group of people he thought liked him, and in one swift move, you destroyed what little bit of acceptance he thought he had at Dalton. It wasn't just you, man. It wasn't just you being a jackass. All those guys in blazers standing behind you who did nothing while the person he loved laid there on the concrete screaming – that proved to him that 'Once a Warbler, Always a Warbler' meant nothing. Dalton was the ONE place he had spent time where no one had bullied him and YOU changed that. You took that from him."

"I didn't know any of this then. You have to know that."

"I didn't know what you knew. You'd been in contact with Blaine for months. Blaine – who I didn't like, didn't trust, and didn't think was good enough for Kurt. He told you our set list. Why would I think he had kept anything about Kurt's past secret from you?"

"Fair point."

Kurt opened the door and quietly confronted the two of them. "Why are you two yelling at each other? If you need to keep yelling, take it to the far side of the garage. The girls are asleep. Work it out, but don't wake them up."

"You're right. I'm sorry. Sam and I will get our coats and go out and sit in the truck."

* * *

Kurt went into the living room. "I'm not sure what they're yelling at each other about, but they need to work it out. Sam has a lot of pent up anger about Sebastian and obviously Sebastian's mad at him as well. I want them to be friends, but if I can't have that, I'd at least like a truce."

"I gave him a bit of perspective after he told me what he did to you that upset Sam so much."

"I see. I'm not sure how long they'll be. I can loan you my iPad and you can play Candy Crush or you can watch TV…"

"I'm fine, Kurt. I have my phone. I can check my email. Actually, if you give me your email, I can send you the sheet music for 'Animal' and 'Misery'." He pulled his phone out.

Kurt gave him his personal email address. "If you're sending things out in group texts, I'd like you to BCC me instead of CC. I don't want Blaine to have my new email address."

"I can do that. Sebastian told me about Finn. My condolences."

"Thanks. I'm going to go back and paint, if you want to talk, you can come with me." Kurt turned and walked back to the study. He picked up the brush he had been using and went back to doing exactly what Sam had shown him to do.

A few minutes later, Wes leaned against the door frame. "Those are cute. They'll look good in the playroom."

"With Sam's help, they will. I've never painted much. I sketch with pencils, and mostly clothing at that."

"I bet you're tired of apologies."

"I am. Honestly. Everything that went on took place about two years ago at this point. I'm not holding a grudge. There really is only so much anger one person can carry around. And there are so many things I could be angry about. I went to counseling starting about a year ago. I worked through how I had let myself slip to the bottom of my own priority list. Did you know that after Blaine took Tony from me and I got the only non-singing role of anyone in the Glee Club, I went out and raised enough money to put the musical on after our funding got cut?"

"I don't know anything about Tony." He went in and closed the door to keep the noise down. He sat on Sebastian's drafting stool.

Kurt gave him a brief rundown of what happened with West Side Story and the creation of the Trouble Tones.

"That was a really dick move. Pardon, my language."

"It was. But you know what? I bought him a bouquet of flowers and congratulated him."

"Why?"

"That's a really good question, isn't it? Because I didn't want to lose the only good thing I thought I had in my life. Rachel was being awful. Mercedes had joined the Trouble Tones. Sam was in Kentucky. I didn't get the lead I needed. The fact that I had him proved that I was still valuable. It nearly broke me to realize that he loved that I loved him rather than actually loving me. When he told me he had slept with someone else, I thought my heart was going to give out. I was in New York. I hadn't gotten into the only school I had applied to. And he told me that it was my fault because I hadn't been there for him. Two weeks, Wes. I had been gone two weeks. Sam told me that it wasn't my fault. A couple of weeks later, I ran into Jeff and he said the same thing. My boss actually got me into see someone for a couple of sessions, which made a big difference. I got some Ambien and at least I could sleep again. And then once I got into NYADA, I made use of their mental health services. I hashed through everything and was able to go off the sleeping pills. It was when my counselor read back a chronological list of all of the things I had told her about my relationship with Blaine that I realized that he loved that I loved him. Earlier when you said that Blaine was at Dalton his freshman year?"

"Yeah."

"You mean he was there from the very beginning of the school year, right? Like he enrolled and started on the first day of school."

"Yes, and no. He enrolled, but he was there earlier, before school started. All of the freshman arrive the Thursday before classes start the following Monday. That's when they have orientation. That weekend, on Saturday, the clubs and sports teams all set up and the freshmen can go around to the booths and get information and figure out which ones they want to join or audition for or try out for. But yes, he was there for all of that. I met him on the first day and was the one to show him around the school. Each freshman is assigned to a junior as a mentor. It gives the student body a sense of continuation. When the freshmen become juniors, they get assigned a freshman student to mentor."

"I see." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "When I invited Blaine to Junior Prom after I went back to McKinley, he balked at first and told me a story about how he had been beaten up after he invited the only other out guy at his school to a Sadie Hawkins dance."

"He never told me that."

"Which makes sense because I've never really heard of middle schools having formal dances like Sadie Hawkins or Prom. And it obviously didn't happen at Dalton because an all-boys school wouldn't host a dance where the girls ask the guys."

"Obviously not. And Crawford Country Day hosts dances, but never a Sadie Hawkins Dance because the girls always invite the guys since it's an all-girls school."

"What about him being bullied? After you and David got up from the table that day the four of us talked, Blaine told me that he had been taunted at his old school, that he had gone to the staff and told them, but they just sympathized, but did nothing and so he transferred to Dalton."

"I suppose he could have had trouble in middle school, but if he did, he never told me about it."

"So, he basically got rid of the two of you so he could manipulate me into thinking that he'd been through what I was going through."

"I don't know, Kurt. I can see why you'd come to that conclusion given the other things I've found out today."

"He sat there and told me that 'prejudice is just ignorance' and that I had two options – enroll at Dalton or stand up for myself and confront my tormentor. Which I did, and ended up having my life threatened, so I ended up at Dalton anyway."

"You know that's not right, don't you?"

"I do now. Blaine carried himself with an air of confidence. And honestly, confronting the bullies wasn't something I had ever considered doing. Sure I had thought about what it would feel like to confront them and win, but deep down I knew that if I did and I bested one of them somehow, it would just make things worse because a 'fairy' like me winning wasn't an option in their eyes. It would have just escalated and ended up with me seriously injured for sure." Kurt took a deep breath. And worked on the painting for a minute, reflecting on his actions. "I thought he was a senior. I didn't find out that he was a year behind me until he transferred to McKinley. He called himself a 'junior member', so I thought he was a junior. He obviously meant that he was an underclassmen."

"Yes."

"He kept sending me a single word in texts – courage. It bolstered my confidence. No one had ever taken my side. I was told that I brought the bullying on myself. That if I'd just do a better job of fitting in and not be so 'me' that it would stop, but Blaine was saying that if I just confronted him and educated him that I could teach him to respect me. It was wishful thinking of course, but I really wanted it to be true. Instead, well, it started a chain of events that ended in him threatening to kill me."

"And you enrolling at Dalton, which honestly I mistook as a move to report back information to your old club and to get with Blaine."

"I mentioned my counselor reading back her history of our relationship. When she finished, she said that she couldn't diagnose someone that she'd never met, but that our history showed the hallmark signs of him being a narcissist. She talked about love bombing and gaslighting and passive-aggressive behavior. It all fit."

"So you finished spring semester in New York at NYADA."

"I did."

"And that's where he is now."

"It is."

"So, he applied there after the two of you had broken up."

"He did. And he asked me if it was okay with me while he was spending Christmas in my loft with me and my dad in Bushwick. He managed to stay on my dad's good side after the breakup. My dad just thought it was because of the distance. I was too ashamed to tell him what had really happened. It was before I had gone to counseling and got my head on straight. So, I was put on the spot with my dad sitting between us on the sofa when he asked me about NYADA. I answered that it was fine, even though I was dying inside and wanting to scream 'NO!' I didn't. I had quit sticking up for myself long before then. But all of that's over. I'm obviously not going back to him ever. I love Sebastian."

He came opened the door just in time to hear Kurt say the last bit. "Well, that's good to know," he teased. "Because I love you too. Shall we trade best friends back? Sam and I are good."

Kurt could see Sam standing in the hall behind Sebastian. He nodded.

"Sure. I learned some interesting things from talking to Wes."

"If they were about me, I hope they were all good," Sebastian winked at Kurt.

"We were talking about Blaine."

"Oh, one of my least favorite topics," Sebastian said.

"Mine too," Sam added.

Wes stood up and moved towards the door. Sebastian stepped back into the hallway and Wes followed him to the living room. Sam stepped inside and pushed the stool closer to the drafting table. He grabbed a paintbrush and went back to work on the dolphin he had been painting.

"Are you and Sebastian really okay now?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I think we both just needed to get a lot of things off our chests."

"It might be naïve and just wishful thinking on my part, but you two really do seem to have a lot in common."

"Like what?"

"Comic books. Sci fi."

"For real. Not just fake like–" he stopped cold.

"For real. He sleeps in Green Lantern and other super hero pajamas."

Sam chuckled. "Not definitive proof, but it's a start."

"I can show you the collage he made of comic book covers to hang in our bedroom to be a companion piece to my Broadway playbill covers."

"Maybe later. You do realize that these paintings on the wall behind me are originals right?"

Kurt looked up. "Well, I assumed so, since they're not prints obviously."

"I mean Monet originals. Like Monet actually painted them."

"No way."

"I'm pretty certain, like 98% sure that huge painting in the girls' room that I caught a glimpse of is by Degas, like the real Degas. That smaller painting hanging in the living room to the left of the TV, that's a Picasso. The one to the right is a Kandinsky. And that large pointillist painting on the wall in the dining room, I'm pretty sure that's by Seurat."

"Maybe they're all just reproductions."

"You have a security system like this is Fort Knox. I'd bet their all real. And you want me to paint sea animals to hang in a house that's a mini museum of famous painters."

"I do. It's fun. The people who painted these other paintings did it because they loved it, right?"

"Probably since a lot of them didn't die rich."

"So, it's all the same. Just because they became famous after they died, doesn't mean that our paintings aren't just as fun to have hanging in this house."

"If you say so."

"I do. You're sure you worked things out with Sebastian?"

"I'm sure. He loves you. I love you. We're fine. He and I will get over the bruises we gave each other. Playground scuffle. No broken bones. No life-threatening injuries."

"Good." Kurt heard the door to the girls' room open and Sebastian talking to them.

* * *

Before Sam and Kurt headed to the hallway bathroom to clean their hands and the paintbrushes, they looked over what they had accomplished in the two hours since the girls had gone down for their nap. Sam had finished the first layer of the two blue canvases – a bottlenose dolphin and an orca. He had added a second layer on the seahorse that Kurt had started. With Sam's pointers, Kurt worked on it more while Sam worked on the dolphin painting. They still had a ways to go, but all three were looking good.

They came out of the bathroom to find Sebastian pulling lasagna out of the oven and sitting on the stovetop to cool. Kurt handed Sam the paintbrushes and went into the kitchen and grabbed a container of broccoli and fed it to Rose, including the song and sound effects required to get her to eat it. Aliza clapped along and played with the toys that Sebastian had stuck to her tray. Kurt made a bottle and a sippy cup of formula while Sebastian sat down and fed Rose a container of squash. Kurt put Rose's sippy cup on the table next to Sebastian before he took Aliza out of her high chair and sat down with her to give her the bottle.

Sam and Wes stood on opposite ends of the room and just watched in silent fascination.

Wes was the one to break the silence. "Well, not that I didn't believe you two, but the last ten minutes prove that this is absolutely real. That was seriously coordinated and practiced perfection."

Kurt looked up and smiled at Wes. "If you want to move the process along more quickly, you can get out four plates. They're in the cabinet above the dishwasher. There is lemonade and tea in the fridge. There's a few cans of Diet Coke and regular Coke in there, leftover from finals, if you'd rather have that. The glasses are in the cabinet to the left of the refrigerator. There's ice in the freezer if you want it."

Wes and Sam turned to follow Kurt's directions. Sam took their drink requests. Wes plated the food and brought it over to the table. Kurt indicated the location of the silverware. Sam brought over their drinks.

Sebastian said, "After dinner, there's dancing."

Wes looked at him like he was joking.

"No seriously. We dance with them every night after dinner. We sing too."

Sam smiled and chuckled. "Of course you do. Wes and I can dance and sing too. I'm sure his boyfriend won't mind."

"I'm sure he won't." Wes smiled. "We've been together for nearly six years. I'm pretty sure he knows we're solid at this point. Plus, I've never been invited to a baby after-dinner dance. How can I say no? Although, I'm really confused about how you have two babies. While I was sitting and waiting for Sebastian to finish hashing things out with Sam, I looked some things up and came to the conclusion that Aliza is somewhere around 6-7 months old and Rose is maybe 11 months old?"

Kurt responded. "Actually, you're very close. Rose is nine and a half months old. She's just verbally advanced. And Aliza is six and a half months old and crawled early."

Wes took a few bites and recalculated a bit before he said anything. "Well, nine months ago was March and nine months before that was June. That would have been a couple of weeks after Sebastian finished his junior year. No adoption agency would have allowed a high school student to adopt a baby and no one would be a surrogate for a junior in high school."

Sebastian looked to Kurt and waited for him to answer.

Kurt didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. "I can't argue with your calculations. I just don't know what to say. We didn't steal them. We are legally their parents. But we both feel like their origin stories are their stories. And just because they aren't old enough to understand doesn't mean that we feel like it's an appropriate subject to talk about. We feel like it's not really our place to tell their stories until they're old enough to understand them themselves. Maybe we'll feel differently at some point in time, but we want to be the ones to tell them. We don't want them to hear rumors about themselves as they grow up. Adults talk around kids like they don't understand, but I can tell you that when my mom died when I was eight, I heard plenty of adults say things they probably didn't think I understood, but I did. And the things they said hurt. Sebastian and I are the girls' fathers. Obviously, women were involved in their creation because that's the way human biology works. But those women aren't a part of their lives. They have two parents, both male. I know people are nosy and curious, but right now, I just feel really strongly about this."

Sam said, "I kind of get it, but I don't. Being adopted isn't something to be ashamed of."

Kurt said, "I'm not saying that our girls have anything to be ashamed of for being born. I'm just saying that they deserve to grow up being loved for who they are and have time to mature before they're told anything. That way, they can either share, or not share, that knowledge with the people in their lives."

"This sounds like it hits really close to home somehow," Sam said.

"It does. I don't talk about this, ever. But I think maybe now is a good time. I'm not sure that Wes knows, but my mom died when I was eight. A lot of people knew her because she taught French in Lima. Anyway, I overheard more than one person suggest that my mom killed herself because of me. Or that 'God took her home early' so she wouldn't have to live through seeing me grow up to be such an abomination."

"You can't be serious," Wes said.

"I'm absolutely serious. There are some extremely religious people in Lima who think that my mom or dad had some kind of generational curse on them for me to turn to my lascivious and fornicating lifestyle."

"Your what?" Sam asked. "I know what fornicating means."

"Lascivious means filled with lewd and lustful sexual desires, basically constantly horny and thinking about sex acts."

Sam chucked, "I'm not sure how that makes you different than any other teenage guy."

Wes nearly choked on his drink. "He has a point."

"It's used to imply that it's beyond the normal amount of sexual desire."

"I see. So you actually heard people say things like this?"

"I have. So, having lived through people making disparaging remarks about how my mom must have either been spared the pain of watching me choose to live in sin or she must have been so secretly sinful herself that my depravity came about because of it, I just don't want our girls to listen to people talk about how they came into our lives until they're old enough to understand what it all means."

Wes nodded. "I won't ask again. And I won't tell anyone, even David if you don't want me to."

Kurt said, "Honestly, I'm hoping that if we can get through a couple of years without people talking, that by the time people find out about the girls, they'll just assume that we adopted them when they were older and they won't be so curious. I just want them to grow up healthy, happy, and well-adjusted."

Wes changed the subject. "This is really good, Sebastian. I'm impressed."

"Kurt taught me to cook."

"He's a good student," Kurt said as he winked at Sebastian.

"Kurt's a good cook," Sam said. "He's also a good teacher. Stevie and Stacey loved it when I'd take them over for 'cooking lessons' and he'd give our family dinner under the guise that Stevie and Stacey had made it, so they should take it home with them. They never did realize, but I knew."

"We all had fun. I always looked forward to them coming over. And you too, of course."

"So, I'm still a little lost." He turned to Sam. "You didn't graduate the same year that Kurt did."

"No. I ended up spending an extra year in high school. We moved from Tennessee to Ohio to Kentucky, and I came back to Ohio, but I hadn't been doing my schoolwork in Kentucky. It's a long story. Anyway, I graduated last May, like Sebastian."

"So, do you go to college somewhere?"

"No. I went to New York City with Blaine, Artie, and Mercedes, who was my girlfriend for a while in high school. Anyway, she graduated when Kurt did and lives in LA, but she's working on releasing a CD and she went to stay in New York for a while for inspiration. She and Santana collaborated on a song and she wrote another one when she was there. She rented a brownstone. Blaine left right after graduation, but I went to stay with my family in Kentucky for a while before I went. He moved into the loft with Santana. Rachel was gone for a while, but when she came back, she didn't want to renew the lease on the loft. Santana moved in with her girlfriend, Dani. Blaine moved into the brownstone with me and Mercedes. Artie lives on campus in a handicap accessible dorm room in Brooklyn. I got on with a modeling agency and did well. You've probably seen the ads and just never realized it was me. They're huge. Treasure Trailz. They're ads for manscaping products. They're on the side of the city buses and billboards. There are print ads too in magazines."

"That's you?"

"It is. Anyway, I got a good deal with that. I'm moving to Lexington with my family this next week so we can get settled in before school starts. Stevie's 11 now and Stacey's 9. I'm actually hoping that everyone loves Lexington or that we realize it's terrible by the end of school so we can get to wherever we're going by the time Stevie starts middle school next August. I'm just going to get a job doing whatever I can while I figure out what I want to do and where I want to do it."

"I would think that models do photo shoots all over the place. If you didn't cut ties with the agency you signed with, you could just tell them that you had to relocate and see if they have any potential jobs in Lexington or somewhere within driving distance."

"That's true. I didn't love it, but maybe I'd like doing it somewhere else. One of the photographers came on to me and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

Kurt's eyes flashed. "That made me so angry when you told me that."

Sam went on to explain what happened to the other two. "She kissed me and I ran out of the studio. Nothing else happened. Somehow I still got the job. She didn't try anything else during the shoot for the ad campaign. But Mercedes and I were dating at the time and it was the thing that made her call it off with me, not because she considered what happened to be cheating. She said she knew I wouldn't cheat on her, but that she couldn't leave me in the position of facing so much temptation with her gone on tour all the time. I think us breaking up again was inevitable after she decided to accept the tour because I don't want to live my life on a tour bus for the next who-knows-how-long, but that didn't make it hurt less. So, that's pretty much my life story since graduation."

Wes said, "I think it's good to take a year or two off if you're not convinced college is for you. I think a lot of people get pushed into college before they have any idea of what they really want to do. Or in the case of a lot of people I know, they get pushed to study things they don't have any interest in or their parents won't pay for them to go to college. High school is very limited, especially in small school districts. There are so many different fields to study, but most high school students barely know anything about their options."

"I still don't," Sam admitted. "I know that college doesn't appeal to me at all, but I also see how my mom has struggled to get a decent job without a college degree. And how my dad has struggled, even having one. I know myself well enough to know that if I'm motivated, I can work hard at something. I need the motivation first, though. I'm going to start doing some research once we get settled. First, I just need to flip burgers if that's what it takes to help my parents."

"I was reading about Chipotle and the article said that they move people up to managerial positions, not hire from the outside like a lot of companies do. Maybe there are others. You don't have to have a burning desire to be something like a doctor or something to enjoy your life. When you look at the workforce, we need a lot more people in the service industry than we do in the legal field. Despite growing up amongst the elite and going to an elite school, I've done enough maturing the last couple of years to realize that being quote 'someone' unquote doesn't make a person happy, fulfilled, or satisfied with their lives. I've met some people who are studying to be 'someone' and hate every minute of time they spend studying. They're not going to enjoy their lives and most likely they're not going to be good at what they do."

Kurt said, "The doctor with the terrible bedside manor, who treats each patient like a number or a calculus problem rather than a person with feelings."

Wes nodded. "Because more than likely that same doctor has been told his whole life that his feelings are irrelevant, that he has a duty to fulfill. So, he does his duty. And that's that. I think it's good to consider your options when you're not certain. College is a big commitment both time wise and financially just to enroll with no idea what you want to study. You can always enroll and take an individual class or some universities offer the ability to pay a small fee and audit a course, which is where you get to attend the course, but you don't take any tests and you don't get college credit for it. You're basically just an official observer."

"I'm going to look into that and see if any of the colleges around where we're moving offer that option. It actually sounds perfect. If I could get on somewhere second shift, I'd still have time to do things like that in the daytime and not be underfoot every evening at home, but still have time to do things with my family on the weekend."

Aliza began to fuss. Kurt reached down and pulled out two different toys and traded them for the ones she had. The change kept her busy long enough for Kurt to finish his food. He scooted his plate away and took her out of her high chair and held her. "Have you had enough of all the talking, honey?" He kissed her on the forehead.

Rose piped up. "Papa up."

"Well, that's new," Sebastian said. "You want up?"

"Up!"

He popped her tray off and picked her up.

"Muah!" she demanded.

Sebastian kissed her on the cheeks. "Can Papa sit down and hold you?"

"Up!" She pointed to the living room.

"She is clearly ready for the after-dinner dancing."

Everyone finished quickly. Sam and Wes cleared the table and put the leftover lasagna in the fridge while Sebastian went to put in the CD.


	22. Chapter 22

After they finished dancing they went back into the playroom so the girls could be free to play while they talked more. Once he put Rose down, Kurt grabbed the two pillows off the love seat and indicated for Wes and Sam to sit. He waited for Sebastian to put Aliza in the spinny seat and then handed him one of the pillows. Kurt sat down on his and leaned against the wall. Sebastian sat down next to him and slipped their hands together again.

"So, those three paintings you and Sam are working on are going to go in here," Wes stated as he looked around the room.

"Yep. The narrow seahorse painting is going to go on the wall next to the window. The dolphin painting will hang over the love seat and the largest painting, the orca, will go on this wall we're leaning against. Once Aliza can pull to standing, I'll move her mobile in here and fasten it to the bookcase so they can still listen to it and watch it safely."

Sam said, "You lived with me in Lima until the end of May. Aliza was born just a couple of weeks later."

Wes said, "Blaine said that your parents moved right after graduation."

"They did. Well, we did. Carole was struggling with Finn's ghosts in Lima. Plus, my dad flies in and of Columbus to go back and forth to DC, so moving closer to the airport saves him time each way. But he still runs the shop in Lima, and they have to continue to live in the 4th Congressional District."

Wes looked lost.

Sebastian responded. "Kurt's dad's a congressman."

"I didn't know."

"He wasn't when I was at Dalton. He ran my senior year in a special election to replace a representative who died about nine months into his term. My dad's finishing up the first year of his first full term this coming week. He needs to decide whether he's going to run for re-election soon. The primaries will be this spring."

"Is he getting more tests? Is that why he hasn't decided yet?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. He's got appointments set up this coming week since it's the last week of the Congressional Recess. And it's his 50th birthday Monday. I guess I'll go by myself. I can't just not go. I guess we could try Amaline and see if she's interested and available."

"I'll email her in a little bit."

Kurt looked up and saw confusion. "Amaline is the girls' nanny. She watches them while we go to school."

Wes nodded.

"She usually isn't available in the evenings, but she said we could ask, but expect 'no' as the answer, but that occasionally she might say 'yes', so we'll just have to see."

"Why wouldn't you take the girls?" Sam asked.

"For one thing, they'll be bored silly," Kurt said. "A bunch of middle-aged people sitting around and talking while we either sit or stand and hold them won't be any fun for them. Actually maybe we should just skip the party itself and meet up with them and take my dad out for an early dinner. Let's talk about it later before we ask Amaline."

"Sure." Sebastian squeezed his hand.

Wes said, "Sorry to be nosy, but what kind of tests for your dad?"

"A checkup to make sure that he's still in remission. He had prostate cancer. They found it a little over a year ago and he had treatments last winter."

"You're family's been through it lately."

"Yeah, but good things have happened too."

Rose crawled over to Kurt and climbed up into his lap. "Dada, mooo!"

"Moo!" Kurt said with a big smile on his face.

"No! Dada MOO!" She turned and pointed to the basket of books on the shelf.

Sebastian got up on his knees and grabbed the basket of cloth books and sat back down next to Kurt. He tipped the felt basket so she could see inside. She quickly snatched her favorite animal sound book and said, "Mooo!" and turned herself and around and plopped down on Kurt's lap. "Dada, mooo!" she said as she patted the book with one hand.

Kurt smiled and opened the book and read it to her, pausing and giving her a chance to make all of the animal sounds before he moved on to the next page. When he finished, he kissed the top of her head and reached to put the book back in the basket, which was on the floor in front of Sebastian.

She snatched for it. "NO! Mooo. Awn-co."

"Tu veux que Daddy lise le livre encore?"

"Awn-co."

"Okay." Kurt opened the book and read it again.

This time when he finished, she let him put the book back, but she wasn't done. She climbed over Sebastian and rifled through the basket and chose another one and handed it to Sebastian. "Papa. Mooyay!"

He picked her up and got her comfortable on his lap and he read another animal book that was in French. He opened it and read the first page. "Mouillé. L'hippopotame est mouillé."

She ran her hand across the page. "Mooyay".

He smiled and praised her and continued to read through the book.

While he was reading, Kurt got up and pulled the play cube that Sebastian's grandparents had gotten them out of the closet and put it in the middle of the room, hoping to entice Rose to play with it instead of wanting them to read all of the books in the basket. He squeaked one of the sections and it caught Rose's attention and she crawled over to play with it.

"So, she speaks French too?" Wes asked.

"Yes. Our nanny is French. Kurt and I both speak French fluently. You know my grandparents are French."

"I know. I just hadn't ever thought about bilingual babies before." Wes asked, "When do you get any schoolwork done?"

Kurt answered. "We try to get as much of it done on campus before we come home and during their afternoon nap, but we end up working after we put them down at 9 some of the time."

"It doesn't seem that you get much time to yourselves," Wes said.

Sebastian said, "We have time for each other, but we haven't had a social life, if that's what you're referring to."

He nodded, but didn't continue to ask questions. "I'm going to need to get going soon. David and I have a double date this evening with Cecily and her boyfriend. I just want to make sure what is public knowledge about all of this. I don't want to say anything out of line. Kurt, you mentioned meeting Blaine and telling him there was no hope of you getting back together, but did you tell him anything else?"

"That I'm married, but I didn't say to who. I knew that wouldn't go over well and we were sitting in a public place. I'm figuring at the Bicentennial Concert we'll tell him and everyone else about us being married, if we haven't decided to do it before then."

"Got it."

"Now that he knows, I'm sure it won't take long to travel through the New Directions gossip chain. I'm not sure how gossipy the Warblers are."

"After Jeff spilled the beans about him cheating on you, I'm not sure that he's going to find many sympathetic ears anymore. A lot of those guys are really close to their mothers because their fathers are too 'manly' to raise their children and a lot of them have watched their mothers get cheated on. I'm sure that some of them will follow their fathers' footsteps, but some of them will remember the pain it caused their moms."

"And what? They won't do it or they'll do a better job of keeping their wives from finding out?" Sam asked indignantly.

Wes shrugged. "Some of both, unfortunately. A lot of the guys are pressured into marrying girls from families with the appropriate social connections. You've seen _Legally Blonde_ , haven't you?"

"Jackies instead of Marilyns," Sam offered.

"You got it. With a side of Jackie, or in some cases, Jack."

Sam said, "I don't think I'll ever understand people who value their money more than their kids. Or people who force their kids to marry people they don't love. I know that sounds judgmental, and it is. But that's how I feel."

Wes sighed. "David and I kept our relationship on the DL for nearly six years from his family. I've lived this. Even living it doesn't make it make any sense." He stood up. "Walk me out, Sebastian?"

"Sure." He got up and followed Wes to the coat closet and got his coat out for him. "I'm glad you came. I've missed talking to you. I'll understand if it was all too much, but I hope you don't change your mind. If you do, please tell me and just don't tell anyone that you came over tonight. Just say that you went to visit an old friend from Dalton, if you're asked."

Wes pulled Sebastian into a hug and stepped back. "I'm not going to change my mind. I'm grateful that you gave me another chance. And not only that, you've extended your trust to me. I'm humbled, honestly. I've made a lot of mistakes. I'll text you. We can get together again before I go back to New York. I'll spring for lunch for all of us. I make a mean take-out Indian spread."

Sebastian laughed. "Sure. Text me and we'll make arrangements. Not on Monday or on New Year's Day. You heard that Monday is Kurt's dad's 50th and we already have plans on New Year's Day."

Wes nodded. "I'm glad you're happy. Really. Today has been very enlightening in a lot of ways. It doesn't have to make sense to me or be what I would choose for myself. You're happy and that's what counts. I know you don't need my money or gifts, but I'd like to get you and Kurt something and the girls too. I don't want to be too forward, but I am assuming that I get to be their uncle, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Let me know something they'd enjoy having. And you and Kurt too."

"We're planning on getting them a toy kitchen once they can both walk. I'll show you some time. You could get them the toy grocery store."

"Sure. Whatever you think they'll like. They're adorable." Wes stepped down off the porch and got in his car. He waved as he drove out of the driveway.

* * *

Sebastian went back into the playroom and found Kurt and Sam sitting in silence looking like they were frozen in time, not looking at each other. "What's going on?"

Sam was the one to eventually break the silence. "I told him that I was hurt that he didn't trust me enough to tell me all of this already. It's true. It's hard to sit here and process all of this because I feel like I've been lied to for six months. Lies of omission. I knew he was hiding things from me, but I never, ever expected them to be big, huge, life-changing things like getting married and having kids. It just all kind of hit me at once when Wes left the room and it was quiet."

Kurt stood and said, "I'm sorry. If you're that upset with me, you're free to leave. I'll pay for a hotel room for you and you can go back to Kentucky in the morning. Or if you're not tired, you could leave now and get back before 11." He got up and walked out of the room, taking Aliza with him to change her diaper.

He closed the door to their room behind him and changed her with tears streaming down his cheeks. He blew raspberries on her tummy in between changing her out of the dress she had worn to the wedding into a sleeper for the evening. _Our wedding. That was just this morning. Ten hours ago._ _God, it's been a long day._ He picked Aliza back up and put her clothes in the hamper before he sat down in the rocking chair with her and sang to her through his tears. He stroked her cheek and did his best to smile at her.

* * *

Sebastian picked Rose up and carried her out into the dining room and put her in the playard. Sam followed him out of the room and stopped short, turning into the study and went back to working on the orca painting. Sebastian knocked twice on the open door and stepped in.

"If you decide you're staying, I'll show you how to put the Murphy bed down after we get the girls to sleep tonight."

Sam nodded. "I'm not leaving. I'm upset, but I'm not walking away. I told you that I love him and I mean that."

"There's a lot you still don't know, and I'll bet you $100 that he's sitting in the girls' room rocking Aliza and crying right now. I'm going to go get Aliza and put her in the playard with Rose and talk to him. Get yourself together. You're feelings are hurt. I get that, but he trusted you enough to keep being your friend. His friend list was exactly two people long. Me and you. He hasn't talked to anyone else besides Burt and Carole and my grandparents in six months." He turned and left the room, pulling the door closed on his way out.

* * *

Sebastian knocked twice before opening the door. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He found Kurt just as he had expected. "I put Rose in the playard and Sam's working on the paintings again. Can I put Aliza in there with her and talk to you?"

Kurt nodded. He let Sebastian take Aliza. He took a few deep breaths before he got up. He walked past the closed study door to find Sebastian waiting for him in the dining room. He reached out and took Kurt's hand and interlaced their fingers as they had done numerous times during the day. He led them to the sofa and sat down in the corner and pulled the ottoman into the corner so they could stretch out. They snuggled together, arms wrapped around each other.

"It's been a long day," Sebastian said. "A very emotional one. Can I kiss you?"

"Always." Kurt leaned forward just a bit and gently pressed his lips to Sebastian's. "I love you."

"I love you too. And I know Sam does too. He called me out and laid it on the line in the garage. Wes made me consider some things I hadn't before and Sam spelled it out in no uncertain terms. But we can talk about that later. Right now, I'm going to do for you what Wes did for me."

"What's that?"

"Give you another perspective."

"Okay."

"Sam doesn't know who Aliza's biological parents are. He has no idea the turmoil you've been through dealing with the fact that all of this has been incredibly hard on your whole family. He lived with your family. From everything he's said, he sees them as amazing, loving, kind, and accepting. He has no inkling that your dad dug his heels in on accepting Aliza for six months. If he knew, he'd be just as shocked as you were. He has no idea that Carole's family's prejudice has tainted her experience as a first-time grandma. How the child who is her flesh and blood will be excluded. How she will never get to be a part of the doting grandma club in her own family. He's not been privy to the knowledge that you sold pretty much everything of value that you had to make this work because your dad wasn't supportive at first. And now, he's off the hook because you inherited your mom's estate. He has no idea how Carole looks at Aliza and just looks like she's torn between being brokenhearted and wanting so badly to break out of her haze of depression so that she can be an amazing grandma to her beautiful granddaughter. All he sees is that you came home for a few weeks at the end of the semester so you could visit your family. Instead of you telling him that you weren't going back to New York and talking to him about it before he left, you waited until after he made his plans and just told him that you were staying in Ohio with no explanation. He thought he'd be living with you and Rachel and Santana in the loft, but fortunately Mercedes moved there and he moved in with her, but that triggered the old feelings that he still had for her and they started dating, but Blaine was there. He thought that Blaine would move into the dorms when Rachel and Santana didn't want to keep the loft. But Mercedes thought they were besties for real and invited them to share the extra bedroom in her brownstone. He ended up moving into Mercedes' room. But nonetheless your decisions affected him. He never vented to you about it because he assumed that you stayed in Ohio to help your dad since Finn died. He thought you were still in Lima, going to OSU Lima until your dad got better."

Kurt's breathing was ragged from how hard he was crying. "You're right. Your situation with Wes is completely different from mine with Sam. You and Wes have been estranged for two and a half years."

"I know how much you want to protect the girls' privacy, but our families know. You've told me on several occasions that Sam is the brother you never had. I have no doubt that if he was even remotely bi, he would be the one sitting here married to you. He loves you that much, just not in that way. You shutting him out is going to hurt that brotherhood. You just need to think about that. Wes is like a cousin. We were best friends, but we were younger. We'll have to work at it to grow into the kind of friendship you have with Sam. You said you wanted me to be friends with Sam too."

"I do."

"I will stand by your decision because you're my husband and our bond is unbreakable to me. The vows we made to each other this morning mean everything to me. I will choose you and the girls over everyone and everything. But I think you should really consider your decision carefully. My Uncle Arthur and Aunt Lynn and their kids know. My grandparents and their siblings and kids know. My grandparents and all of my mom's relatives in France know about Rose. Just my grandparents and your parents know about Aliza. And of course, whoever her birthmother is. And I get that you're never going to say who that is. I'm assuming that it was part of the agreement for you to put your name on the birth certificate. I'm not asking questions. I understand confidentiality agreements. Sam spent more than a year deflecting Blaine away from you, never once letting how he felt about doing that deter him from keeping his word to you. Try to imagine his surprise to see that you were married to me. He kept Blaine away from you for you to turn around and marry me instead."

Kurt sniffed and took a deep breath. "You're right. There's so much he doesn't know. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For helping me to see things more clearly. As much as I love this, I'm pretty sure that it's time to make bottles and gather up our reading materials. And Rose is still in her dress from earlier." He kissed Sebastian again before he stood up. "Bottles or Rose?"

Sebastian got up and wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind as they walked towards the dining room. "Both. You can go talk to Sam. At least smooth things over for now. It's been an emotional day and I'm pretty sure that you won't sleep with this turmoil between the two of you." He leaned in and placed soft kisses up Kurt's neck. "And while this has probably been the weirdest wedding day ever, I'd like it to end on a happier note."

"You're sure you're okay with Sam knowing."

"I am. I'm actually okay with Wes knowing too, but I know that you aren't. And I just told you that my loyalty lies with you. I won't tell Wes anything about the girls unless you say I can."

"Maybe in time. I'm not sure how long. My history with him is so different from yours. He was distrustful and very nearly condescending. And he apologized, which means a lot to me, but I haven't really had time to process everything we've talked about today. I'll think about it, but I'm going to go talk to Sam for now."

Before he let loose of Kurt, Sebastian turned him in his arms and kissed him passionately.

They had gotten far enough into the dining room that Rose could see them at that point.

"Papa up!" Rose demanded. "Up! Up!"

Sebastian walked them closer to playard and Rose crawled over to them. Sebastian picked her up and held her, but put his free arm back around Kurt once he had Rose in place. He turned so that he could hold Rose and kiss Kurt.

"Dada, Papa, muah! Awn-co."

They kissed again gently.

Kurt stepped back. "I'm going to go talk to Sam."

* * *

Kurt knocked twice and waited a few seconds.

"Come in."

He opened the door and closed it behind him. He sat on the stool. "It's looking really good."

"Thanks. I figured out why you're shutting me out. You're protecting someone. Nothing can get you to talk when you're protecting someone. I won't push again."

"I actually came in here to tell you. Sebastian helped me get my head on straight."

"You, straight? That must be have been some feat. Pretty self-defeating though since he married you." he jabbed back. He looked up and winked at Kurt.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Look, I overreacted in the playroom. You obviously have your reasons."

"Stop, Sam. Let me apologize, please."

He nodded.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I've been torn up about this for nine months. I kept telling myself that it was better for you not to know anything. You were with everyone. All I could envision was Santana snatching your phone and reading our text messages or Blaine overhearing you talking to me somehow. I just needed time. You'll understand more in a few minutes."

"So you knew about Aliza before she was born."

"I did."

"She's Finn's, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"While he was gone, he got a girl pregnant and what? She came to your family after he died?"

"I can't discuss her birth mother. That was part of the agreement."

"So, you are protecting someone. I knew it."

"Yes. I can't talk about that aspect of it. I was at the hospital when Aliza was born. I chose her name. I signed the birth certificate. That was the arrangement. I would never speak of the birthmother or the circumstances and I got to sign the birth certificate as her biological father. The birthmother wants to go on living her life like this never happened. There are no records tying the two of them together."

"Finn didn't know before he died, did he?"

"No."

"Your parents knew, though, right?"

"I'm not sure what you're asking. We all three found out the same day. But if you mean did they knew when you were living with them, they did. They sold the house while we were both there. The realtor actually had a client looking for exactly the style house we had, so when Carole called to list the house, the realtor just brought her client over for a tour and it was a done deal. The family had been looking for a place for a few months and hadn't found what they wanted. They had triplets that started middle school this fall. They needed a 4-bedroom place and they wanted a den that was away from the main living area. Anyway, the house never went on the market in the traditional way with a sign in the yard. The family was fine with waiting to move until the end of the school year. So, that gave my parents time to find a place they liked between Lima and Columbus."

"So, you knew you weren't going back to New York when you came home in May."

Kurt nodded. "I did. I sold off most of my designer stuff and I sold my furniture to Santana. I used the money to buy the CRV and some practical clothing that I knew I'd need. I worked as much as I could. Some of the time when you thought I was working, I was in class. I took classes at OSU Lima during the first summer term. I moved to Dublin before the second term started."

"And you ran into Sebastian somehow. And he had Rose already."

"Rose is his baby sister. She wasn't injured in the wreck."

"Oh, my God. Why doesn't Wes know that she's his sister?"

"His parents were older. They had kept the pregnancy secret from everyone. Wes's dad knows, but since Wes was in New York, his dad never talked about it, following the Smythe's request for privacy about it."

"They were afraid she'd lose the baby."

"Yes. I've never asked her exact age, but she was in her mid-to-late 40s. She wasn't young when she had Sebastian. His parents didn't get married until after his dad passed the bar exam, so like mid-20s. Anyway, only their families and really close friends knew about his mom being pregnant."

"Okay. So somehow you two met up, fell in love, got married, and have been raising the girls as sisters."

"Yep." He moved over and picked up a paintbrush and went back to work on the seahorse. After he got back into the groove of it, he took a deep breath and began telling him the issues with his dad and Carole, asking Sam not to interrupt so he could just get it all out at once.

When Kurt finished, Sam kept painting, but didn't say anything for a bit. "You just got married recently then."

"Yes." He explained why they had moved so quickly.

"So, it takes six months for stepparent adoptions to be processed?"

"Yes, but the day I moved in here counts as the first day."

"There's still something you're not telling me. I can't piece everything together."

Kurt thought about it. His mom. "I didn't tell you that my dad gave me an envelope of stuff from my mom." He went on to explain that situation the best he could.

"So, due to a bunch of legal things about adoption here and filing paperwork at the French consulate, you got married already so that you can apply for passports with the girls having both of you listed as their parents and with hyphenated last names as their legal names on all of their official documents."

"Basically yes."

"That doesn't really sound very romantic."

"There's plenty of romance. I love him, Sam."

"And you're sure you don't just love that he has a house and that this is easier than being a single parent?"

Kurt looked gutted. He put the paintbrush down. "You don't really think that, do you? You don't really think I'd marry someone for money and stability do you?" His voice quavered.

"Look, I'm not trying to hurt you. This still just seems so weird to me. You hated him not quite two years ago. And now you want me to believe that you're in love with him. You didn't talk to me about how you thought you were falling in love with him. And how he's amazing. And doesn't he have beautiful eyes? And whatever. You shut me out during the part of your life during which someone who was a jackass to you became your husband. That's a big leap."

"You said the two of you worked things out and that you were fine."

"We are. We did work things out. But that doesn't change how I feel about you cutting me out of the most important things in your life. You didn't trust me. What have I ever done that gave you the idea that you couldn't trust me?"

"Nothing, Sam. Nothing. I didn't want to put you in the middle. I didn't want you to have to live the secret life I was living. It was easier if you could just tell everyone that I was fine. Keeping you in the dark kept them from interrogating you."

"You keeping me in the dark makes me feel like crap, Kurt. I would have rather been interrogated than cut out of your life."

"Santana is relentless. When she moved in with us, she dumped everything out of ever drawer and went through ever file in my file box. She left out nothing in her search. I changed my passcode on my phone to the longest one I could use to keep her from looking through my phone again. I didn't want my life to be gossip fodder. You were dating Mercedes, who loves to gossip as much as Santana, but she's not aggressive about finding things to blackmail people with. In a couple of years, there will be no way for anyone to find out how long we've had the girls unless I show them photo albums from when they were babies, which just isn't the kind of thing people do."

"I get that. I didn't live with Santana, but she was around a lot."

"I know you're mad at me. Please try to see it from my perspective. My dad had cancer. Finn died. We found out about Aliza. I agreed to raise her. Carole was initially thrilled. My dad was not. The chemotherapy drugs changed him. He was grumpier and moodier. I think you just didn't see it because he kept to himself and I know you spent a lot of time away from the house after Finn died."

"Yeah, it was hard to be there."

"You were my constant. Over the summer, I knew if I called you, you'd be funny and cheerful and you'd tell me funny stories about Stevie and Stacey. And when you went to New York, you did all sorts of things I never did when I was there. It was like living vicariously through your adventures while I was actually sitting as far away as I could get from Aliza's crib, in the dark, under a blanket in our efficiency apartment so the light from my phone screen and the movement of my hands wouldn't be in her field of view. If I had told you, then you would have turned the focus of our texts and calls to me as single father. I just needed something in my life to not be about that. And I honestly can't say that I would make a different choice about not telling you, even knowing how mad you are at me right now. It's selfish. I know. But I needed something to be normal. I needed me and you to be us, not you worry about me and Aliza."

"That makes sense. I hadn't considered that. I would have wanted to support you. I wouldn't have said you made the wrong choice."

"I know, but you supported me – the whole time. Hearing your jokes and impressions, that's what I needed. I didn't need sympathy or compassion. I needed a friend. And you were there the whole time."

"So, when you'd text me and ask you to tell you a joke?"

"I may very well have just spent an hour listening to Aliza cry for no apparent reason. Not hungry, not wet, just wouldn't sleep until I sang and bounced her for that whole hour. I didn't want to hear someone say, 'Wow, that sucks.' I just wanted to hear something funny. And given how my parents were acting, I wasn't 100 percent certain that you'd be supportive."

"I get it. Your parents let you down. Keeping me out of the loop kept me from being able to let you down too."

"Yeah. If I didn't want you to be part of my life, I would have cut you out like I did everyone else."

"So, if I had stayed in New York?"

"I probably wouldn't have told you. And our friendship would have eventually been less interactive due to distance. You moving back to Kentucky put you back within the realm of being an in-person friend, for lack of a better term. Lexington is just three hours from here. You could drive here and spend the weekend, which is something that could never happen from New York unless you flew here."

Sam showed him what to do to the dolphin. They went back to painting in silence for a while.

"So it wasn't because you didn't trust me."

"I did trust you. I do trust you. I just didn't trust the people you were with. Honestly, think of how hard things would have been if Blaine had known that Sebastian and I were together."

"Oh, God. He would have been non-stop whining about what Eurotrash Sebastian is and how he's probably got all of the STDs."

"And don't forget how Sebastian wanted _him_ and not me and how it's some kind of way for Sebastian to get _his_ attention again by pretending to like me." Kurt paused. "Sebastian's not Eurotrash. Where did you even hear that?"

"Santana."

"Of course. She'll be ruthless when she finds out. I just couldn't risk that while I was trying to keep my head above water."

"I understand better now. If I had thought I was alone in the brownstone, I may very well have asked about the girls or Sebastian or typed something in a text. So, are you just going to, like, secede from the New Directions? I mean you're not in the Facebook group."

"I'm not on Facebook period. I deleted all of the posts I had ever made, took down what few photos I had posted, unfollowed everyone, unfriended everyone, and then deactivated my account back after I broke up with Blaine because I kept getting unsolicited advice on why I needed to just get over it and take Blaine back and suggestions on how to do it. I didn't and don't have time for drama. I have a limited amount of free time and I'm not using it for that."

"You used it to talk to me."

"I did."

Sam sighed. "I get it." He looked the painting over. "I think I'm done for now. They all need to dry before we add anything else. Finish that fin you're working on and we'll go clean the brushes again."

Sebastian knocked on the door twice before opening it. "It's time to read. I was just checking to see if you'll be joining us."

"Yeah. We're getting ready to clean the brushes. I'll get started on these. Kurt's almost done with what he's doing."

"I'll grab the books." Sebastian walked across the hall to the playroom.

Kurt followed Sam into the bathroom. "Are we okay now?"

"Yeah." Sam took a deep breath. "Yeah, we're fine. It's just been a lot to take in."

* * *

Kurt and Sebastian sat down with the girls in their customary way, while Sam took a seat on the shorter side of the sectional.

Sebastian pointed to Sam. "Do you remember his name? It's Sam."

Rose pointed and said, "Dam."

They all tried to suppress their laughter.

Sebastian repeated, drawing the 's' sound out. " Ssssssssam."

Rose concentrated, but not having any teeth did not help. "Fam," she said on her second try.

"Good job, sweetie," Kurt said.

Her face lit up with his praise. "Fam! Fam! Fam!" she squealed.

Sam laughed. "You got it! That's me."

She pointed at Kurt. "Dada." Then at Aliza. "Awiya." Next, she patted Sebastian on the chest. "Papa." And then she pointed across to Sam. "Fam!"

"What a good job," Sebastian said. He kissed her on top of the head.

Kurt picked up the first book and started to read.

* * *

After they had gotten Sam settled in, they went to their room and got ready for bed. Once they were in bed, they snuggled up tight together facing each other.

Sebastian said, "I've thought about what we talked about last night and I've chosen a nickname for you."

Kurt pecked him on the lips. "Tell me."

" _Mon loup_."

"Your wolf?"

"Mmm hmm. Wolves are intelligent, caring, playful, and devoted to their families."

"That's really sweet." Kurt kissed him. "I've thought of yours too, but it's not anything traditional."

Sebastian ran his thumb across Kurt's lips. "I wouldn't expect it to be coming from you."

"Be honest if you don't like it."

"Of course. We don't lie to each other. Tell me?"

" _Mon repos_."

"My rest?"

"Yes. Like I said this morning – with you, I can be completely myself. Feeling calm and relaxed isn't something I've felt very often. And I feel that way with you. I can rest when you're around. I don't have to be on guard all the time. This is an amazing gift you give me every day."

"It makes me feel really good that you feel that way. I like the nickname. And I love you."

Kurt kissed him and nuzzled in to go to sleep. "I love you too."


	23. Chapter 23

Saturday morning, Rose woke everyone up wailing at the top of her lungs. Kurt came rushing out of their room with Sebastian on his heels to see why she was screaming. Kurt picked her up an examined her. He checked her fingers first to see if she had some how pinched them in the crib or between the wall and the crib, but he couldn't find any evidence of that. He laid her down on the changing table to get her wet diaper off. He sweet-talked her and did his best to calm her as he examined her everywhere while he had her undressed. He put her in the snowman outfit that Dotty had gotten her.

"I don't see anything," he said to Sebastian, who by then was holding Aliza, waiting to use the changing table. "I'm going to go get her a bottle. Maybe she's just extra hungry."

Sam stepped to the side of the door and followed Kurt to the kitchen. He took Rose from Kurt and held her facing forward so she could watch Kurt, giving him two hands to make the bottle faster. Kurt took her back as soon as it was ready and she put the bottle in her mouth and chewed on the nipple instead of drinking.

He pushed it in a bit. "You need to drink the milk."

"Ow." She chewed on the nipple and refused to drink. She continued to cry as well.

Kurt pulled the bottle out and stuck his index finger in her mouth and she bit down. "Ow," he said. He chuckled and realized where she had learned it. She had bitten him several times over the last few days and he had said, "Ow" each time. Even though it hadn't actually hurt, he wanted her to know that biting hurt. He put his finger back in and ran it along her lower gum.

She bit him again and said, "Ow!" at nearly the same time that Kurt did.

"She's getting her bottom front teeth," Kurt said as Sebastian walked up, carrying Aliza. "Our sweetie here needs something cold to chew on to numb her gums. Then, we'll try the bottle again."

"Those teething toys we got have been in the freezer for a couple of months. I'll get one." He opened the freezer and pulled out a ziptop back with three teething toys in it. He took one out and put it Rose's hand.

She stuck it in her mouth and pulled it out.

"Cold," Kurt said. "The cold will help the ow. Put it back in your mouth." He guided it back to her mouth and she started to chew on it.

Sebastian put Aliza in the playard and made her bottle. "You want to try feeding it to her, Sam?"

"Sure. I used to feed Stevie and Stacey."

"Aliza's a little less sure about new people, but we'll see how it goes," Sebastian said. He handed Sam the bottle and picked Aliza up. "Sit in the chair and we'll try it."

Sebastian tipped her back into Sam's arms. Sam put the bottle in her mouth. She didn't fuss. She put her hands on the bottle too and stared at Sam.

"Sing something," Kurt suggested.

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"It really doesn't matter as long as is sounds happy."

_Woah. Woah._

_You know you love me. I know you care.  
Just shout whenever and I'll be there.  
You want my love. You want my heart.  
And we will never, ever be apart._

_Baby, baby, baby, oh.  
Like baby, baby, baby, no.  
Baby, baby, baby, oh.  
Thought you'd always be mine._

He kept singing the song, repeating a verse as needed, until she finished the bottle.

"Justin Bieber, huh?" Kurt teased. "I heard about the Justin Bieber Experience."

"It was epic. I wish you had been there."

"Yeah. Me too."

Kurt took the teether from Rose, replacing it quickly with her bottle, and she finally began to drink it.

Sebastian was clearly lost.

"I started a Justin Bieber cover band and performed at Bat Mitzvahs and birthday parties. I made decent money too. It was fun. I had to give it up when I started delivering pizzas because that was consistent money and the singing gigs were hit and miss. It didn't work at school. Quinn left me anyway."

Kurt filled in details. "Quinn cheated with Finn, and then lied preposterously about it."

"Oh."

"It was a continual mess between Quinn, Finn, and Rachel. Let's see. The Reader's Digest version. Quinn and Finn were dating freshman year. Quinn slept with Puck over the summer and got pregnant. Didn't tell Finn that the baby wasn't his until like November. Finn had cheated on Quinn with Rachel while he still thought the baby was his. Finn and Quinn broke up. Finn started dating Rachel, whom he broke up with purely to go out with Brittany and Santana, who virgin-shamed him into sleeping with her. But by that time, Rachel was dating Jesse St James."

"This part I've heard."

Kurt went on and listed the rest of the times Quinn, Rachel, and Finn had gotten together and broken up, including Sam dating Santana after he broke up with Quinn, except he left out when Finn had come to New York and had slept with Rachel.

"He and Rachel were cozy at the wedding-that-wasn't that you skipped out on. I'm pretty sure they hooked up then too."

"Probably."

"Quinn and Santana hooked up then too," Sam said.

Kurt's eyes flashed and he looked at Sam like he had grown two heads. "No way. You're just yanking my chain."

"Nope. Not at all. Santana bragged about. Twice she said."

"Well, that just goes to back up my statements about Santana. She does not know the meaning of the words 'discretion' or 'private'."

Sebastian said, "Back to what you said a minute ago. What is 'virgin-shaming'?"

"Oh, I made that up. Santana taunted Finn and called him 'Finnocence'. And she basically told him that it was shameful to still be a virgin at 16 and she convinced him to let her fix that problem for him. He gave in and slept with her."

"Glad I escaped that," Sam said. "I only dated her because I knew she'd trying to ruin what little reputation I had if I didn't."

"Not that it's my business, but how did you manage to fend her off?" Sebastian asked.

"I just turned her down. I told her I wasn't interested in being a notch on her bedpost, and that if she didn't love me that it wasn't happening."

"Good for you."

"I wish I had stuck to that. I lost myself in Kentucky the first time. I don't regret stripping, but I do regret sleeping with the girls I slept with. I don't want to talk about it. Being back with Mercedes was great, but that's over. I need to figure myself out before I start looking for someone else." He looked down at Aliza, who had just been lying in his arms staring up at him while he talked. "She's beautiful. They change so fast. There's so much difference between the two of them." He switched to a higher pitched tone and looked her in the eyes. "And in just a few months, you'll be bossing people around by pointing and demanding things too, won't you?" He barely grazed her foot with his fingernail and she squealed in laughter. "You think that's funny do you?" he asked. He did it again on her other foot and she squealed in laughter again. "Ticklish, you are," he said, impersonating Yoda.

Rose had drained her bottle and began to squirm.

"Do you want down?" Kurt asked.

"Dow?"

He put her down in the playard and she sat down and looked at him, "UP!"

He smiled and picked her back up. "Clearly she knows up. We'll have to work on down. Bring Aliza back to their room and we'll put her snowman outfit on too."

Sebastian took the bottle and put it in the dishwasher and followed the others to the girls' room.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Sam asked.

"Sure," Kurt said.

"This room doesn't fit the story your creating of a unified family. This room looks like Aliza moved in to Rose's space. Last night you told me that Carole has a nursery at their new house and that your crib matches hers."

"Yeah."

"You could make things more – I don't know what the right word is. But you could get Aliza a bed that matches Roses's and take this crib with these sheets and stuff that matches the nursery at Burt and Carole's to their house. And then both girls would be on even footing both places. It wouldn't be like Rose was an afterthought and they don't have anywhere for her to sleep. You said you want them to grow up feeling equally loved. Start now. Paint two of these walls lavender and buy Aliza some new sheets and a new little baby quilt that's more like Rose's. Or buy or make both of them a new cover in fabrics that coordinate. It doesn't even have to be lavender. It could be pale green, peach, or even yellow. Or you could leave the whole room pink and get Aliza some pink stuff. They're going to be sleeping in those beds for like four more years."

"When we first moved in, none of that came to mind," Kurt said. "But what you're saying does make sense. Unless we're going to completely isolate them, we're going to end up having people over long before they're not sleeping in these beds. We could disassemble Aliza's crib and take it Monday. Maybe it would make it feel more real to Carole too. I'll talk to them. Maybe we should all go. God, why does everything have to be so complicated? It's my dad's birthday. I should be able to go with my husband and my kids. If Carole's family doesn't like me, then they should be the ones to not come. He's my dad."

"Amen," Sam said.

Sebastian changed the subject back to the bedroom. "Why don't we go shopping when Target opens? We were going to look for a double stroller anyway. We can have breakfast at our favorite bagel place and stop in that café with the smoothies we like before we go shopping. Sam and I will entertain these two while you figure out where Rose's bed came from so we can go get another one like it or at least order one."

Kurt nodded. "I can do that."

Sebastian said, "I'm going to make coffee. Come show me how you like yours, Sam."

* * *

"When you said, 'Come prepared to paint,' this wasn't what I had anticipated," Sam said.

Kurt sassed back, "It was your idea."

Sam rolled his eyes. "But I didn't know I was volunteering myself to do it."

"Of course you were," Sebastian insisted. "All unsolicited advice is accepted with the provision the person giving the advice is volunteering to put the idea into practice or to help implement the execution of the idea."

"Mmm hmm. Sounds like you want to be a lawyer, not an architect," Sam sassed back.

"I thought about it, but I like creating things more than arguing, shocking as that may be to some people."

"Nah. I'm not shocked anymore. You're sarcastic, but not really argumentative that I've seen. You like to tease, but so do I."

"When we finish, I'm taking my two favorite men and my two favorite girls out somewhere."

"Where?" Sam asked.

"We already went out for breakfast," Sebastian added.

"Nope, no hints. It's a surprise. Keep painting."

"Yes, my liege," Sam said, in a deep raspy voice.

Kurt laughed. "I love the diagonal idea. It's looking good." Kurt pulled the door shut and left them to paint. He went back out to the dining room and finish disassembling Aliza's crib.

Once he had it finished, he began to assemble the new one that matched Rose's. He thought about what they were doing and wondered how they'd ever explain all of this to the girls in a way that didn't end up hurting them somehow. It wasn't a lie that he and Sebastian were their parents, but they weren't the ones who created them. He decided that he'd call Dr. Colton's office and see if he counseled people dealing with adoption issues as well, and if not, he'd ask for a referral to someone who did.

He got lost in thoughts of babies and parents until his mind had wandered to his own mother. What was in that safety deposit box in Cincinnati? Did he really want to know? He was pretty sure that he didn't. At least not yet. He wasn't ready for any bad news or sad stories. He needed time, maybe a lifetime. Maybe he never wanted to know.

He asked himself at what age it was appropriate to tell children that their birthparents died or abandoned them? Never seemed like a good time from Kurt's perspective at that moment while thinking about how much it had hurt when his mom died. Maybe it would be different since they never knew their birthparents. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much. He took a deep breath and stretched a bit from how he'd been sitting.

When the timer sounded on the washer, he went in and transferred the new bedding and the bedding that had been in the laundry to the dryer and turned it on. They had decided to keep two of the matching sheets Kurt had made that had pink and lavender as the predominant colors in them for the girls' room at home. Kurt had made just two sheets for the nursery at Burt and Carole's. The additional two would give her enough for both cribs.

He had already decided that he was going to make them coordinating quilts over the rest of winter break. He pictured in his mind what he wanted them to look like and decided that maybe duvet covers might be better because he could put fleece blankets inside and keep all of the covers together rather than having separate pieces that could get separated during the night. And they could be adjusted to match the temperature and the season.

Sebastian came out of the girls' room and into the dining room and found Kurt staring off into space. "Kurt?" he said quietly.

Kurt startled, but smiled when he looked and saw Sebastian. "Yeah?"

"It looks good. Are you done? I mean it looks like you are, but you were just sitting there."

"I was thinking. Always thinking."

"Not second thoughts kind of thinking…" his voice trailed off.

"What? No. Of course not. I was just thinking about parents and kids. I miss my mom. I know you miss yours too. Sometimes, just little things make me think of her and miss her a lot."

"Happens to me too." He reached down and offered Kurt his hand.

Kurt took it and stood up. He stepped closer and wrapped his hand around the back of Sebastian's neck and ran his fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. "Kiss me?"

"My pleasure." He leaned in and kissed Kurt. Their conjoined hands were pressed between their chests. He wrapped his free hand around Kurt's waist.

Sam stepped out, but saw them embracing each other and he quietly slipped into the bathroom to wash his hands. When he came back out, Sebastian was putting all of the small pieces to Aliza's crib in a ziptop bag.

"It looks like you've got it done."

"I did. It was easier to put together than Aliza's was. I actually really like how low these cribs sit to the floor. When Carole and I looked at cribs, I hadn't considered how handy it would be to keep them from being able to crawl underneath them. I know they're designed to be turned into full-sized beds, but I think those guys Sebastian hired to do the carpentry work could turn them into twin-size headboards and footboards if the girls want to keep these instead of getting different bed when they're four or five and get too tall to sleep in these as toddler beds." He went down to the girls' room and peeked inside and closed the door back. Even though they had used low VOC paint, they had the window cracked open to air the room out and their small heater on to keep the room from being too cold for the paint to dry properly. "It looks really cute like that," he said as he came back into the dining room. "I like the wall that's the focus being half pink and half lavender with the diagonal delineation. And with the two doors on the opposite wall, it didn't leave much to paint the triangular lavender part on that wall. A quart was plenty to do the one wall and the two partials."

"I like the way it looks too," Sebastian said. "We should be able to move them back in there in a few days if we leave the window cracked during the daytime. I'm sure the security company will hate it." He heard the dryer buzzer go off and went to pull out the bedding.

Kurt followed him and they folded everything up, except one sheet and the mattress pad to put on Aliza's new bed. Sebastian took those and put them on. Kurt put everything going to Burt and Carole's in a paper sack, took it out to the garage, and put it in the front seat of the truck. Sam followed him out carrying two pieces of the crib with Sebastian behind him with the other two. They used the packaging materials and the box the new crib came in to pack it up and put it in the back of the truck.

"So where are you taking us for our surprise?" Sebastian asked, slipping his hand around Kurt's waist.

"I'm curious too," Sam said as he wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders.

He wrapped his arms around their waists. He spoke quietly. "It's still a surprise."

Sam laughed. "Fine, fine. Do we need to dress differently in any way?"

"Nope. You both look fine. But…"

"But?" Sebastian asked.

"But, I'd like us to get the double stroller out and do any assembly that might be required to take it with us."

"Done!" Sam said as he rushed off towards the house.

Sebastian laughed and turned to kiss Kurt before he followed after Sam.

Kurt shook his head. He sighed happily. The two men he loved were getting along and being silly. Things were definitely more light-hearted than they had been the day before. He headed inside and made two bottles to bring with them. He added some wet wipes to replace the ones they had used earlier and a couple of containers of baby food before he put the diaper bag by the closet door. He stood back and watched the other two quickly get the stroller ready to go.

Sebastian looked up, caught him smiling, and winked at him.

He went into the laundry room and grabbed the clean sheets that needed put away and took them to the girls' room. He packed up one of each of their sheets in a cloth bag to take with him. He closed the window, and notified the security company that they were leaving and wouldn't reopen the window until that evening. He went back out to the dining room.

"Done!" Sam declared before Sebastian managed to say anything.

"Excellent," Kurt said. "As soon as the girls wake up and we change their diapers, we'll go."

As if on cue, they could hear Rose start to call out. "Papa. Dada. Fam. Amam."

"Well, she's learned your name quickly," Kurt said. "Let's go get them." He turned to Sebastian. "Will you put the stroller in the back and bring their car seats in?"

"Sure."

Ten minutes later, both girls were in their teddy coats, fastened into their carriers with bottles. After Sebastian was in the middle with his seat belt on, Kurt showed Sam how to fasten their seats into the bases.

* * *

Kurt pulled into a parking spot, and handed a card to both Sam and Sebastian, who still had his eyes closed so as not to spoil his surprise. Sam had no idea where they were, so Kurt let him keep his open.

"You can open the cards."

"Can I open my eyes?" Sebastian teased.

"Yes."

"A movie theater gift card?" Sam asked confused.

"You didn't already go see it, did you?" Kurt asked.

"See what?" Sam asked.

Kurt pointed out the window at the case that had the movie posters in it on the side of the building.

" _The Hobbit_? I didn't go see it yet. Is that what we're doing?"

"You and Sebastian. I'll wait until it comes out on DVD. I haven't read the book yet. It's been on my to-do list for a month or so."

Kurt got out and removed Aliza's car seat so Sebastian could get out. Kurt fastened her back in and closed the door. "It starts in ten minutes, so you two better get inside. The shows before 6:00 are less, so you can probably afford some drinks or candy."

"What are you going to do?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm taking the girls to the fabric store and to the bookstore. I'll be back to pick you up." He stepped closer and kissed Sebastian. "Have fun." He opened the driver's door and got back in. He waited for them to get to the sidewalk before he pulled out.

"He really wants us to be friends," Sam said, as he held the door open. "He knows I love the _Lord of the Rings_."

"Yeah, me too. He saw my beat up copies of the books when we rearranged everything at home. He also knows that I'd been looking forward to seeing this, but that I didn't really want to go alone because it was something my dad and I had planned to see together. He and I watched the first three movies together when I turned 13. I had just finished reading the last book the week before my birthday. He made a day of it. My mom made us snack foods for the whole day and we watched all three of them in a massive hours-long marathon. It was awesome. With everything that's happened since winter break started, Kurt didn't manage to get the book read. I'll watch it with him as soon as I can buy the DVD."

They each scanned their gift card to get tickets.

"Let's grab drinks and find a seat."

Sam nodded and followed him to the concession stand. "You're not what I expected. You two are good together. I never saw him relax around he-who-shall-not-be named."

Sebastian laughed at the epithet.

"Seriously, dude. He would, like, hole up in his room for an hour getting ready before Blaine came over if it was on a weekend. He would prep food the night before and make sure everything was perfect. He was relaxed with me, but only if it was just the two of us. When Finn was home, he'd keep his distance. But when he was certain that we were the only two at home, he'd be more playful and teasing and we'd horse around and wrestle and watch moves and play video games. But he'd keep a close eye on the time and go back to his room before anyone came back home."

"He's mentioned how he's comfortable with me and how much it means to him, but hearing your description makes me understand more." Sebastian made his way down an aisle two-thirds of the way up and as close to the center as he could get.

Sam followed him and sat down next to him. "This is going to be amazing. I just know it. Last night he told me that you and I have a lot in common."

"He told me the same thing about you, a while back."

"So, you've known all along that he's been talking to me?"

"Yep."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"I encouraged him to get you to come for a visit. From what he's told me, you've always been a good friend to him. I would never want to take that from him."

The previews started and the two of them quit talking.

* * *

Three hours later, Kurt pulled up where Sam and Sebastian would be able to see him. Sebastian had seen him driving towards them and they walked down towards where Kurt pulled up. Sam popped Rose's seat out and Sebastian climbed into the center. He reattached her seat and got in the passenger side.

"Epic!" Sam said.

"Amazing!"

"It was great. Thanks for our surprise. I loved it."

"Me too."

"Book!" Rose said loudly, and pushed a cloth book towards Sebastian.

"That's new," he said.

Kurt smiled. "We worked on it while we were at Once Upon a Child. I changed my mind about going to the bookstore. Rose was in a very talkative mood, which would have been very underappreciated at the bookstore."

Sebastian and Sam both chuckled.

"I bet." Sebastian took the book he was being offered. "What kind of book did you get, sweetie?"

"Book," she insisted.

Sebastian opened it. "Oh, this one is cool. All of the animals are textured. This one will be fun. Good choice, sweetie." He turned to pay attention to Aliza who was also holding a book. "What did you pick, honey?" He moved it enough that he got a look at it. "Ooh, colors. Very nice choice." He ran his finger down her cheek softly and she smiled at him. "Did you two have fun with Daddy?"

"Dada. Book. Book. Book!"

Rose cooed and babbled.

"Mmm hmm. Daddy bought you both books. He knows how much you both love them." He reached out and took one hand each and gently rubbed his thumb across the tops. "I'm glad you both had fun with Daddy." He didn't let go of their hands, but he addressed Kurt. "Did you find what you were looking for at the fabric store?"

"I did. It's all in a bag in the back. I was thinking of picking up Thai or Chinese on the way home. Can you call it in?"

"Sure."

* * *

When they got home, they left the food in the bags to keep them warm because it was story time for the girls. After they finished reading, they put the girls to bed in the playroom where their cribs were.

Kurt and Sebastian came back in to find Sam pulling plates out and making drinks.

"Can I ask you something nosy?" Sam asked.

"Me?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Sure. I may not answer, depending on how nosy,"

"The Seurat behind you on the wall, is that an original?"

"Yes."

"The rest? Degas, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Monet?"

"Yes, and there's a Matisse in the living room on the short wall."

"I saw it, but couldn't ID it from across the room, like I could the other two."

Kurt's heart sped up. Sam had been right. He'd been living in a museum with art worth millions for three months. He helped Sam plate their food to keep himself occupied instead of standing there with his mouth open in shock.

"None of them are pieces that are known to the art world. We don't really know how to value them. They've been in my family since forever ago. My mother's maiden name was Moreau, which is my middle name. Her great-great, I-don't-know-how-many-greats was a French painter. Matisse was actually one of his students at one point. His son, my one-less-great grandfather knew all of the 'greats' and he bought paintings he liked and kept them and passed them down. He collected quite a lot. Of course, none of them cost in the millions back then. They passed down through the male offspring, but my grandfather had two daughters. There are more in Paris still. My Aunt Marie has about as many as we do. My mom brought these here with her after she married my dad."

"You don't have any here by your how-many-ever-greats grandfather?" Sam asked.

"Are you familiar with his work?"

"Didn't he use a lot of religious iconography?"

"Yes. Almost all of his known works are religious or mythology based. I had one of the few landscape scenes he painted hanging in my room, which is the playroom now. It's wrapped up and stored in the closet in there for now. I saw quite a few of his sketches when I was living with my grandparents in Paris and those were 'interesting' at the time because there were quite a few nude studies, including men."

Sam laughed.

"You would have enjoyed all of the nudes of women, I'm sure. He was quite skilled and they were very detailed."

"I've seen photos of a few," Sam said. "A lot of his well-known pieces have partially nude women in them. I don't recall seeing any with nude men, but of course, that wouldn't have attracted my attention like it would yours."

Kurt grabbed silverware and put the plates on the table. Sam brought the drinks.

Sebastian sat down at the table. "If you want to see the Moreau painting I can get it out tomorrow when the girls are awake."

"Are you going to hang it somewhere?"

"It's not huge. I might hang it in the short hallway across from the bathroom. I don't want it to get bumped all the time though, so I'm not sure."

"There's the wall in the study behind your drafting table," Kurt said.

"I think and envision things by looking at a blank wall. But several of the shelves in that room are empty. We could consolidate the few things on some of the center shelves and take a few out and hang it on that wall."

"That could work," Sam said.

"It's got more green in it than the paintings that are in there, but I think it would still look good. We can get it out tomorrow and decide."

* * *

Sebastian climbed into bed with Kurt and waited for Kurt to wrap his arms around him. He scooted back into Kurt's arms.

"Before you get too comfy, your phone rang while you were in the shower."

"It's not locked or anything. You could have answered it." He reached over and grabbed it. "Oh, it was Wes. He texted after he called and said to call him back." He pressed Wes's number.

"Hey, I just thought you'd be interested in knowing that the Warblers' gossip chain is alive and well. Blaine posted about meeting Kurt for coffee and how he had tried to make him believe that he had gotten married. Followed by quite a few LOLs. And an 'as if'."

"I see."

"So, my question to you is this. I'd like to tell David, but I won't if you don't want me to. You know that he can keep a secret. And I'd like for all of us to go out to lunch tomorrow. Sam's included in the invitation. So are the girls if you're willing to bring them."

"I don't know, Wes. My grandparents are out visiting my Uncle Arthur, so we don't have anyone to watch them. I'll text you later if we can work something out. You said lunch, so you mean noon?"

"Noon to 1:00. You're the one with arrangements to make. Whatever works for you. You can let me know a time if you figure out a way to go and I'll text you back the place. It's some dive Trina insists serves the best comfort food ever. So, burgers, onion rings, pie. Stuff like that. Just let me know."

"Sure." Sebastian put his phone back down on the bedside table. "I'm sure you heard."

"I did. Scoot back more." He wrapped himself around Sebastian. He nuzzled his nose into the back of Sebastian's neck. "We could call Carole and ask her to come down, my dad too. Or we could just take them. I think the odds are pretty slim of running into anyone from Dalton at a dive."

"That's true. Trina is the antithesis of a high society girl from what I remember hearing. She refused to go to Crawford Country Day. I've never met her personally, but Wes mentioned her a few times."

"So, you knew that Wes and David were dating before you went to France."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. I was privy to all of Wes's wonderings and musings about whether David liked him as more than a friend. David had never come out and said that he liked guys, so Wes wasn't sure what to think. By the time I left, they'd been together officially for, um," he paused to calculate. "Not quite a year and a half."

"We can take the girls to this dive if you want." Kurt kissed along Sebastian's shoulders. "They've been out with us before and it went fine."

"That's true, but it would mean David and Trina knowing about the girls and just yesterday you weren't sure you even wanted Wes to know."

"I know. But David and Trina obviously know how to keep secrets or their grandfather would have found out about Wes." Kurt sighed. "I'm more concerned about Blaine. It was a rash decision to go confront him. I should have thought it through more. I was so annoyed that he talked about me like I was the one in the wrong for breaking up with him and that he was just playing the field until I came to my senses and took him back. I should have realized that he would think I was bluffing. If he was telling people that he knew I'd come to my senses when it's been 14 months, nearly 15, since I broke up with him, I should have realized he wouldn't believe me when I told him I was married. That was his initial response – that my ring wasn't really a wedding band – that I was just pretending."

"Forget him. He's irrelevant. Don't let him steal your joy. There will always be people who try to steal your joy. We'll just choose to ignore him and go on with our lives. If he ever shows up here, don't open the door. If he persists, call the security company. They'll send someone out to deal with him."

"You're right. Let's go tomorrow. We talked about not being so isolated anymore. These are people you know to be trustworthy. So, David has two sisters. Trina and I forgot what he said last night.

"Cecily."

"Any brothers?"

"Nope. Cecily is older, and she did as she was told. She went to Crawford Country Day and to Columbia, pre-med, but their grandfather relented and agreed to let her study to be a physical therapist instead of a doctor. I remember Wes and David talking about it before I went to Paris. So, I think she's five years older. Trina is 19 like me, so two years younger than David. I don't know anything else about her."

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow as we eat decadent dive food. Can you turn over?" Kurt scooted back a bit to give him room.

Sebastian rolled over and faced him.

Kurt kissed him. "I'm glad you had a good time with Sam."

"Me too. How about more kissing?"

"Kissing, yes. Definitely more kissing. But first tell Wes we'll meet them."

* * *

Dive Diner in Columbus

The five of them pulled up outside the restaurant at 12:30.

Kurt said, "This really looks like the kind of place where some guys bigger than Azimio attack me and Sebastian and kick our asses."

Sebastian said, "I'm pretty sure that Trina wouldn't invite her brother and his boyfriend to a homophobic restaurant, no matter how good the food is."

Kurt took a deep breath. "Sam and I will go look to make sure they're here." He looked towards the door and saw Wes peek out and look around. "Never mind. Let's go in."

Sam pulled Rose's carrier out and let Sebastian out of the back. Sam fastened her seat back in, unfastened the straps, and picked her up. Sebastian went around to the other side and got Aliza out while Kurt opened the back and grabbed the seats to their high chairs and their diaper bag. They headed inside together, with Wes holding the door for all of them. Kurt saw where David was sitting with his sister, who had shoulder length, double French braids and was wearing a red and black buffalo plaid flannel shirt with denim overalls. He put their seats down and hung the diaper bag on the back of his own chair before fastening the girls' seats to the chairs. Sam and Sebastian took the girls coats off and fastened them in their seats.

"Oh, my God, they're adorable," Trina said as soon Sebastian sat down. "Sorry. I'm a little bit of a baby, um, fan?"

David laughed. "She loves babies. Always has. This is my sister, Trina."

"I'm Sam."

"I'm Kurt."

Sebastian smiled at her. "Sebastian." He pointed. "Rose and Aliza. Our daughters."

"Well, Rose and Aliza are beautiful."

"Kurt and Sebastian go to OSU too," Wes said. "Sam's here visiting from Kentucky for the weekend. He's Kurt's best friend from high school."

"Nice to meet all of you. I'm a freshman," she said. "Music major, voice. And I recognize Kurt. You were in one of my classes last semester – Music Theory. You slipped in the front right as class was starting and always rushed right out afterwards."

"My class before that was across campus and I was always booking it to get there on time. And it was my last class for the afternoon and I needed to get home. Sorry I don't remember seeing you in class."

"Makes sense. I sat with my," she paused. _"Our_ cousin towards the back on the side you slipped in on. There were like a hundred people. And with the stadium seating, it doesn't surprise me. What are you majoring in?"

"Music Education. I'm a sophomore."

"Cool. What about you, Sebastian?"

"Architecture."

"Nice. Okay enough talking. I'm starving. Everything here is good. Trust me. I have tried everything on the menu over the last year. I come here every other week as a treat to myself for eating salad or vegetables for lunch thirteen days in a row."

Sam laughed. "That sounds like something I'd do."

"I want to stay trim and healthy, but _God_ do I love to eat."

Sam smiled and picked up the menu. "Anything in particular I should try if this is going to be my only time eating here?"

"Do you like onion rings?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Those definitely. And the fried mushrooms. To. Die. For."

Sebastian said, "Why don't I just order that sampler platter with those and the waffle fries? We can all try them."

"Nah, just order a basket of each. We can share. The Roadkill Burger, Sam. A-ma-zing _._ "

He nodded and chuckled. "I'll have that then."

A few minutes later their server came around and took their orders.

Trina said, "I didn't ask what Sam is studying."

"Oh, I'm taking a gap year. I spent this fall in New York City modeling, but my parents are moving again, so I'll be helping them do that this coming week. After that, I'm going to figure out what I want to do next."

"Tell me about modeling in the Big Apple."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Face claim for Trina Thompson: Dominique Fishback.  
> Here's a photo of her dressed casually from 2013:  
> https://www.zimbio.com/photos/Dominique+Fishback/Glamour+Presents+These+Girls+NYC/SVzqIAoMiAS
> 
> Gustavo Moreau (1826-1898) was a real French painter and Matisse was one of his students. Everything else said about him in this fic is fiction.


	24. Chapter 24

By the end of the meal, Kurt was feeling a lot more relaxed about the idea of letting other people into their lives. Trina had won over the girls to the point where Aliza let Trina hold her without the lure of a bottle to do it. Sam was holding Rose, sitting next to Trina. 

Kurt stood up, “I’m going to run to the men’s room while you two have the girls.”

“Good idea,” Sebastian said. He followed Kurt to the restroom.

They stepped into stalls quickly. 

When they were washing their hands, Kurt looked over at Sebastian. “What do you think?”

“I think she’s super sweet, if you mean Trina.”

“I do. How about we invite everyone over?”

“Really?”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to. I just thought–”

“That was a good ‘really’. I didn’t think you’d be open to having people over so soon.” Sebastian put his hand on Kurt’s neck and rubbed his thumb along his jaw. 

“I think I’ve just been overly reactionary to the thought of anyone coming into our home because of my experience with people in general. I love our home and it’s our place where we can be ourselves. It’s where we fell in love. It just feels very private, but that’s because we’ve been so isolated. I think our room needs to be that for us, but that’s new because we moved into it not even two weeks ago. While I love our room, it’s still new to us. We haven’t had the chance to make our new study feel like our space either because we haven’t started classes yet.”

“That’s true. I hadn’t thought about it like that – from your perspective. I’ve lived there my whole life. I do feel the way you do about our room. It’s still new, but I love it. And I love you so much.” He kissed Kurt quickly. “If you’re ready to have more people over, I’m fine with it. Obviously not in our room because that’s our space.”

Kurt nodded. He reached up and took Sebastian’s hand. “Let’s get back out there or they’re going to wonder what’s going on.”

When they got back to the table, Aliza was still happily sitting on Trina’s lap, smiling and babbling. Kurt couldn’t help but smile when he saw Aliza smiling and happy. He sat back down in his seat and looked over at Sebastian, who was smiling too. 

He saw Kurt look at him and nodded just slightly.

“We were wondering if you’d like to come over for a while? We could play games or watch a movie. The girls will go down for their afternoon naps not too long after we get back.”

Trina said, “Sure. I can. What about you two?”

“We just have to meet everyone for dinner like you do at 5:00.”

“We’re having an early dinner with Cecily and James, who are leaving afterwards to go spend the week with James’s family. We’re celebrating Cecily finishing her residency. She graduated in May. But now she can start looking for a job. It’s been really nice this Christmas with Wes being able to join us for everything and not having to try to spend time with the two of them away from family gatherings.” She smiled and blew a kiss to Wes. “My grandfather was a generous man, but only if he got to decide how his money was spent. He was xenophobic and homophobic. It was just such a weird combination. It was like he lived in this world where black people should be able to do anything white people could do, except he didn’t want anything to be interracial. It was like this super weird version of segregation where he wanted to have access to all of the same high-society privileges while only interacting with black people socially. Straight black people. I could never figure him out.” 

David said, “I tried once to get him to explain it to me and he just shut me out and acted like I didn’t even ask him anything and went on to talk about something completely different. He was so kind to all of us, but when Cecily began dating James, who is white, back in July after she started her residency program in June, we all knew not to say anything. So, it’s been nice being able to have James come to family events this year. He’s a pediatric occupational therapist. He didn’t have to endure the years of keeping everything quiet like Wes and I did. I miss my grandpa in some ways, but he sure made everything hard. It’s weird to explain.”

“My stepmother found out that her family was homophobic when they met me three years ago  _ after _ she married my dad. She said that she had no idea that they were. No one ever brought the topic up. It was just like this core belief that just ‘was’.”

Sebastian said, “When she talked to me she made a strange analogy, but it makes sense. She said it was like the fact that everyone knows that there are people who speak languages we’ve never heard of. They exist. We all know they do. But no one ever talks about them. Ever. She said her family was like that. They just never discussed homosexuality at all. Like it didn’t exist. So, when they responded negatively to Kurt and didn’t want him to come to their family events the second Christmas she and Burt were together, she was shocked. Burt spent time with Kurt and she went to visit her family without them that year – last year.”

“People can be so awful, all while being outwardly decent,” Trina said. “So does that mean that none of them want these two beauties around either?”

Kurt sighed. “Exactly. But we won’t talk about it now. The girls are starting to understand more of what they hear, and I don’t want them to hear about anyone rejecting them over something they have no control over, not when they’re so young.”

Trina nodded. “I get it. It’s ridiculous though. Look how amazing they are. Who wouldn’t want to get to spend time with them?” She scrunched her nose and winked at Aliza. “You’re just so adorable.”

Aliza kicked her feet, obviously enjoying Trina’s attention.

Kurt said, “So, shall we head to our place? You said you have to be at Cecily’s celebration dinner at 5.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We should get going. You mentioned their naps. I wouldn’t want to mess that up,” Trina said. She stood up and found Aliza’s coat and got her in it.

Sam handed Rose over to Sebastian to get her ready to go. He unfastened their seats and grabbed them.

Wes went to the register and paid for everyone’s lunches while they were all distracted by the baby commotion.

Kurt realized what he had done when he came back to the table. “You didn’t need to pay for us.”

“It’s just easier. You can leave the server a nice tip. I’m sure you’ll brighten her day. I’m sure she was dreading trying to break our bill up for us with there being six of us and us ordering four appetizers.”

Kurt nodded. He had been a server long enough to know what a pain large parties who wanted their bills divided in weird ways could be. He pulled out a $20. 

Sam heard what was said and pulled a $10 out and put it down on top of Kurt’s $20. Sebastian pulled out a $20 and put it down too. He was the last to get his coat on and was still there when the server came around and picked up the $50.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

Sebastian smiled. “Happy Holidays. The food and service was great.” 

Her gaze softened. “Oh. Well, Happy Holidays to you too. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“We’ll be back some time. It seems that Trina comes every other Sunday.”

She chuckled. “Yeah. She told me she loves to eat.” She collected up the plates into her bin.

When Sebastian got outside, Kurt was standing alongside the car waiting to pull Aliza out so he could get in the back. 

Trina looked over and looked confused at first. “Why don’t you get Sam out and let him ride with me. Then you don’t have to get either of the girls back out in the cold.”

Sebastian opened Sam’s door slightly and repeated Trina’s offer. He hopped out and followed her to her car.

* * *

Kurt got in the driver’s seat and pulled out. “Sam going with Trina prevents me from teasing and/or interrogating him about his oh-so-obvious interest in her. She’s funny, sweet, likes kids, isn’t stuck up, sings, and she’s cute.”

“Mmm hmm. You’ll just have to wait until later to tease him, but not too much.”

“Of course,” Kurt chuckled. “He really deserves to find a nice girl. Not that Mercedes isn’t nice – it’s just that they’re not on the same path right now, at all. Sam doesn’t want the life of living on a tour bus. He already made it big in his eyes. He didn’t like it as much as he thought he would. He told me about the agency offering him a place to live as part of his contract. He went and the girl who he was supposed to share a room with casually offered him uppers and he wasn’t sure what else. He didn’t even bother to unpack. He was told to lose ten pounds. I told him that was ridiculous, but he exercised and barely ate until he’d lost the weight. I saw it at Vogue too. I love fashion. I really do. But I don’t love girls starving themselves to fit in size 0 clothes. I don’t like the idea that only really thin girls deserve to have clothes that look good. I used to shop with Mercedes in high school and what was available in Lima was atrocious. We have to go to Columbus to find anything decent most of the time. As she got older, it was a bit easier because the clothes that were designed for plus-sized professional women looked less ridiculous on her because she wasn’t 15 anymore. I’ll get off my high horse. Sorry.”

Sebastian reached out and put his hand on Kurt’s thigh, just above the knee. “It’s not a high horse. It’s true. Society values certain women and not others. Or better yet values certain women for certain roles. And I think you and I and all of the other gay guys find it completely stupid that a woman has to be sexually appealing to men in order to have a job as a model, an actor, even a politician. I’m not even into fashion and I can imagine what would be said about a woman running for political office who wore the boxy suits that politicians wear.”

Kurt chortled. “Oh, my God. And the comments if she wore her hair comb-over style.”

That got Sebastian laughing too. “That would be hysterical.” Sebastian’s phone pinged and it pulled it out to look at it. “Wes said that they’re stopping to get some dessert for later.”

“Okay. That will give us time to get the girls down for their naps.” He put his hand over Sebastian’s and squeezed while they were stopped at a red light. “This has all gone so fast. I’m nervous.”

“I know. It’s hard. You’ve been burned before, more than once.”

He put his hand back up on the steering wheel when the left turn light changed to green. “I’m excited too. Aliza really took to Trina.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I’m not sure, but possibly. I’m thinking that when we have school-related things on the same afternoon or evening that maybe Trina would be willing to stay with the girls for a couple of hours. With their new nap schedule, she could even study the whole time she’s with them, if she arrives when Amaline is leaving. It depends on her class schedule though, but even if she can’t do any afternoons, she might be available some evenings.”

“If this afternoon goes as well as lunch did, we’ll ask her.”

“Sounds reasonable.” Kurt turned into the driveway to see a familiar deep green Volvo wagon parked near the walk to the front door. He stopped and backed up so that the front shrubs were blocking them from view from the front porch. Before Sebastian could say anything, Kurt said, “Blaine’s here.”

“Why would he be here?”

“Looking to get laid, I’d imagine.”

“That’s not happening.”

“Go ahead and get out. You can tell him you went out to lunch and were dropped off afterwards. I’ll drive around the block and wait until you call and say you got rid of him.”

Sebastian took a deep breath and opened his door. “Text Sam and tell him so he can tell the others.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Sebastian walked up the driveway and saw Blaine sitting in one of the rockers on the porch.

“I was about to give up and leave,” Blaine said. “But then I saw a car pull up and then back out.”

“Yeah, my ride figured it was easier than driving down to the end and turning around with two vehicles in the driveway already.” He stepped up onto the porch.

“Makes sense.”

Sebastian sat down in one of the rockers on the opposite side of the front door from Blaine. 

“Aren’t you going to invite me in? It’s cold out here.”

“Nope. I’d tell you to call first, but I blocked your number nearly  _ two _ years ago. I didn’t invite you over. I’m not inviting you in. I’ve never given you my address nor have I ever implied in any way that I’d like you to visit me at my home. Other than Christmas Day at the Chinese place, where I did  _ not _ know you would be, it’s been over a year since we’ve spoken and that was because Hunter insisted that I be the one to meet you that day.”

“That’s harsh. You said I was ‘flawless’ that day.”

“I did. Hunter said to butter you up. He thought I could do a better job of it than him since he’s straight. Plus, he was blackmailing me. How did you find out where I live?”

“I followed Wes here after we went caroling on Christmas.”

“I see.” He slipped his gloves on, carefully keeping Blaine from seeing his ring. “What do you want, Blaine?”

“I thought we could talk. Maybe catch a movie or watch one here if your parents aren’t home.” He moved and sat down in the rocker next to Sebastian’s.

“They’re not here, but despite the fact that I’m the only one home, I’m not interested. If you’re looking for an easy lay, I can give you the names of a couple of 18+ clubs in Columbus that might provide that for you –  _ if  _ you go home and change into something that fits right. Also, wash all that gel out of your hair and use some hair wax to tame your curls in an attractive way.”

“Insulting the way I dress and offering me the names of clubs. Seriously?”

“It’s the best I can offer. They’re nicer than Scandals. At least they were the last time I was there back in junior year.”

“What? You settled down? That’s a joke, right?”

“No joke. I’m in a committed relationship. I don’t cheat.”

“You tried to get me to cheat.”

“I tried to see if you  _ would _ cheat. And the answer to that is obviously ‘yes’. Why did you even date Kurt?”

“We’re soulmates.”

He chuckled. “That’s it? That’s not really an answer, you know.”

“Well, we have several similar interests and he’s a good listener. And he always enjoyed watching me perform. It was nice to not be alone. And he’s a very devoted partner, most of the time. He’s the perfect guy to marry.”

That Sebastian could agree with him on, but very, very different reasons.

“Do you love him?”

“Can’t we go inside? It’s really cold.”

“Nope. Just answer me. Do you love him?”

“We’re perfect for each other and I want him back, but I don’t know where he is. He had Sam contact me out of the blue on Friday. He and Sam showed up and he showed me a ridiculous ring and said that he was married.” He rolled his eyes. “As if.” He huffed. “Kurt wouldn’t get married that fast. He’s only been back in Ohio since May. Who would he have found to marry him in whatever backwater town his parents moved to?”

“You’re asking me?”

“No, of course not. I know you hate him.”

“You’re here trying to get with me, all while saying that Kurt is your soulmate. I don’t get that. If you can get him to agree to get back with you at some point, are you just going to cheat on him again?”

“What’s that to you?”

“I’m just wondering. If he’s not enough for you, why do you want him so badly?”

“I told you, he’s perfect for me. We’re soulmates, and we’re going to be together.”

“But you’d still sleep with other guys? You’d just do a better job of covering it up? Like not telling him? That’s despicable.”

“Next you’re going to tell me that your dad has been faithful to your mom.”

“Yes.” Blaine bringing his parents up again made it hard for him to focus. “It’s time for you to go. I’ve told you that I’m not interested.”

“What is up with you? You wanted me. You chased after me.”

“No, I didn’t. Let me clarify what went on before you leave. I wanted the Warblers to win. You came to Dalton with tickets for the musical and soaked up the hero worship. You soaked up my flirty banter. I knew about Kurt. Who could join the Warblers and not hear about Klaine and how you left Dalton to be with your soulmate? Anyway, you never mentioned him by name. You continued to soak up my attention – going out to coffee with me without him or even mentioning him. I fed you that line about how it didn’t matter to me whether you had a boyfriend just to see how far you’d step out on him. He showed up wearing emotional Kevlar. He wasn’t going to give me any information. You on the other hand, liked the attention. I played the long game. I knew that we wouldn’t face each other until Regionals. And in the end, I got the set list I had worked to get. Unfortunately, I was a cocky bastard and let my power go to my head. And I’m really sorry about your eye. That was completely an accident. As I said before when I visited you after your surgery, the rock salt addition was to pull the dye out of whatever Kurt was wearing to ruin his outfit. He seemed like the nexus of the group from what I could tell. I thought if I got him angry enough that when we competed he might lose his focus from seeing me stand on the side of the stage. When he saw me in the audience at Sectionals, it threw him for just a second. I had hoped to build on that. I thought I could make him even more upset by blackmailing his stepbrother. I hadn’t considered the fact that you might feel guilty about telling me about the slushie tradition and that you’d dive in front of him. I just hadn’t predicted your quick switch from traitor to martyr. That was ingenious, really. I was there the next morning after your very minor procedure when the doctor told you that you could go back to school in two days. But I’m sure you reveled in your martyr status for the two weeks, or whatever it was, that I heard you played hooky.”

“Obviously, I’m not holding a grudge.”

“So, I didn’t want to sleep with you. I wanted you to  _ think _ that I wanted to sleep with you so that you’d give me information that would help me lead the Warblers to a victory over the New Directions at Regionals. I  _ really _ wanted to go to Nationals.”

“So, it was all just a ploy?” he asked, the tone of his voice clearly indicating that he did not believe Sebastian.

“Isn’t that what it was, well, is, with you and Kurt?” He started singing.

_ I want you to want me. _ _   
_ _ I need you to need me. _ _   
_ _ I’d love you to love me. _ _   
_ _ I’m beggin’ you to beg me. _

_ Didn’t, didn’t I, didn’t I see you cryin’? _ _   
_ _ Didn’t, didn’t I, didn’t I see you cryin’? _

_ Feelin’ all alone without a friend. _ _   
_ _ You know you feel like dyin’. _

He stopped abruptly. “It went something like that didn’t it,” Sebastian asked. “He was down and vulnerable and you gave him terrible advice, but you enjoyed the feeling of admiration and power it gave you to be the one he looked up to and trusted. You loved that he loved you.”

“Who told you all of that? Never mind. I didn’t come here to listen to your accusations.” Blaine stood up. 

“Well, feel free to leave any time. The sooner, the better. You’re never going to get what you came here for.”

“I don’t believe a word of what you said. You’re just playing hard to get.” Blaine stepped towards Sebastian and quickly put his knee between Sebastian’s, effectively pinning him in the rocker, and leaned down to kiss him. Sebastian’s reflexes were quick and he shoved Blaine back hard enough to knock him off balance causing him to land on his butt on the porch.

“What’s wrong with you?” Blaine was stunned in place.

Sebastian pulled his phone out quickly as he crossed his legs, making it harder for Blaine to repeat what he had done. He managed to get a decent shot of Blaine’s face while he was still in shock sitting on his butt on the porch. Blaine grabbed for Sebastian’s phone, which he shoved into his coat pocket.

He answered Blaine’s question. “Nothing, other than I’m not sure how to put this any more clearly than I already have, but I’ll give it one last go.” He spoke slowly enunciating each word precisely. “I’m  _ not  _ interested in you  _ at all _ . I  _ never _ have been. Two years ago, I  _ pretended _ to be interested in you. The end. Now, get off my property and  _ never _ come back. I made it clear that I wasn’t interested and you attempted to force yourself on me.” He managed to keep his voice calm. “You just attempted to sexually assault me. You have until I count to ten to be off my property before I call the police.”

Blaine got to his feet and scurried off before Sebastian even began to count.

Once Blaine shut his car door, Sebastian texted the photo and Blaine’s name and physical description to the security company. The company called back to let him know that they would file a police report about the trespassing. He knew it wouldn’t go anywhere, but it was the start of a paper trail on the off-chance Blaine tried to return. He was also told that the company would also keep the video feed from the two hidden security cameras that were aimed at the front door starting from an hour before Sebastian contacted them. They generally reviewed it once every 12 hours, but they would make a copy immediately and keep it in his file as well as email it to him for his own records.

He texted Kurt next and told him to conceal his identity in any way possible and to pull directly into the garage. He texted Sam next and told him to try to keep from being recognized as well and to have Trina park in front of the garage door so he could dash inside.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Kurt drove down the driveway and into the garage. Trina pulled in and Sam hopped out of Trina’s passenger seat and slipped into the garage with his scarf wrapped up to his eyes and his hood pulled down to his eyebrows. Sebastian pressed the garage door button as soon as Sam stepped inside, and then went to the side door to let the other three in. 

Sam and Kurt brought the girls in from the garage and took them into the playroom. Trina followed them.

Kurt said, “This is actually their playroom. We had it painted a couple of weeks ago when we had some other work done. We painted their room yesterday.”

“I get it. Paint fumes aren’t good for babies. Can I peek in their room?”

“Sure.”

She crossed the hall and opened the door and looked in quickly. She went back into the playroom. “I like the diagonal half pink, half lavender walls. It’s really cute.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said. “It’s the last of the home improvements with the exception of the paintings that Sam and I have been working on for this room. They’re in on my desk in our study, which is also our guest room.”

“So winter break was home improvement time?”

“Pretty much. We went to Sebastian’s grandparents and my parents came here. We went to brunch with all of them Friday before his grandparents left to spend the week in Colorado with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. We’ve done some relaxing too.”

Sebastian came in with both of their bottles.

“Ooh, can I feed one of them?” she asked.

“Sure,” Sebastian said. “Sam fed Aliza this morning. Maybe you can feed her and he can feed Rose.” He waited until Trina picked Aliza up. He handed her the bottle with the lavender ring around the neck and put a burp cloth over her shoulder. “They drink different formulas,” he said.

“Ah, okay. Wouldn’t want to mix them up then. Someone will end up with at tummy ache.”

“That would be Rose,” Kurt said as he handed her to Sam. 

The two of them sat down on the love seat. Sam reached out for the burp cloth and then Rose’s bottle.

Kurt said, “When they’re done, just burp them gently and lay them in their beds. No blankets. I turned the little heater on when I came in. Rose seems to enjoy pushing the blankets through the slats and watching them fall.”

Trina laughed silently and tried to keep a straight face. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ll go ahead and turn the music on. Once they’re in bed, just pull the door shut. I already turned the monitor on too.”

* * *

“Sorry about that,” Sebastian said as the two of them walked into the living room and sat down.”

“Let me guess. Trina wanted to feed them? Hold them? Rock them?” David teased.

“Give one of them a bottle. Sam is feeding Rose.”

“Our mom was nervous for quite a while that she would get pregnant on purpose in high school because she loves babies so much, but Trina eventually convinced her that for now, she loves  _ other  _ people’s babies.”

Kurt asked, “So, earlier, you said you were majoring in psychology because you convinced your grandfather that it would be a good degree to get into law school.”

David chuckled. “Yes. I did. I actually want to be a psychologist. I’m hoping to get into the psychology program at NYU for graduate school. My college fund has been put in my name since he died, so I won’t have to worry about covering the cost if I don’t get a scholarship. I never had any interest in becoming a lawyer like Wes.”

Sebastian said, “So, you’re planning to stay at Columbia for law school?”

Wes answered, “That’s the plan. What about you two?”

“I’m considering the Master’s program in five years option since Sebastian’s a year behind me in school. We’d both finish at the same time.”

Sebastian continued, “I still want to go to Columbia. I’m hoping to get into their 1-year Master’s program. It’s June to May, so we’d go right after graduation.”

“What about this place?” Wes asked.

“No plan to sell it, if that’s what you’re asking. We’ve got time to figure it out.”

“That’s true,” Wes said. “Why don’t we go slice up that cheesecake we brought while they finish up with the girls?” He got up and Sebastian followed him to the kitchen.

“Look, Kurt. I want to apologize. Wes told me about how we were wrong about your motives for transferring to Dalton. He didn’t say anything else. Just that we really messed up. I was part of that. I listened to Blaine when I should have asked you myself. I was on the Warbler Council and it was my job to make sure that all of the Warblers were doing okay and I didn’t do that, which is completely on me. I’m sorry for not being there and interacting with you myself to see how any of us could have offered you any support you might have needed.”

“I appreciate your apology. And you’re right that as a person in a position of leadership, it would have been appropriate for you to check on me yourself, but I’m not holding a grudge or anything. I told Wes the same thing. I was thrilled to not be bullied anymore. I didn’t dislike anyone for not reaching out. I had a lot of work to catch up with transferring at midterm, so I didn’t really have time to socialize when I first transferred. I did what Blaine suggested, which was to do my best to conform, although it wasn’t the best thing for me personally. That was a long time ago though – over three years ago. As I said, I haven’t been holding a grudge. If I’m annoyed at anyone, it would be Blaine for telling people to leave me be like he had some right to govern my life.”

Wes and Sebastian came back in. Sam and Trina were right behind them.

Wes sat down to David’s left. Trina slipped her shoes off and put them at the end of the sofa and sat down to David’s right, in the corner spot, criss-crossing her legs. Sam sat down to Kurt’s left and Sebastian to his right.

Wes said, “Speaking of Blaine. What did he want? How did he even know where you live?”

“He said he followed you here after we finished caroling.”

Was said, “He saw you arriving at the restaurant with the five of us and he saw us leave the retirement center together. I didn’t even consider him following us.”

“Me neither.”

“So, you sent him away,” David stated.

“He didn’t leave willingly at first, but he did eventually leave, obviously. I told him not to come back. Hopefully, he listens and stays away.” Sebastian didn’t mention the security cameras.

“If he bothers you again, tell my dad and see if he can get some kind of charges brought up for trespassing.”

“Maybe just presenting them in the presence of Blaine’s father would be enough to get him to leave you alone,” Wes said.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we ever have to. I’m just going to assume for now that he’s going to stay away. So, are we going to play a game or watch a movie?”

Trina said, “First, can I tell you about my job?”

“Sure.” 

“Okay, so I’m a licensed Kindermusik teacher and I want to personally invite Aliza and Rose to join my infant class. It’s for newborns through 18 months. I have them divided into two groups because I had so many people interested. Once they can walk, they’d move up to the older class. But Aliza and Rose can stay together until they both can walk. If you give me your number, I can send you a link to the website where you can sign up.”

Sebastian told her his number. 

“I’ll give you mine too, but you can’t give it to anyone.”

“Got it.”

Kurt gave it to her. “I’m serious. There are people I absolutely do not want to know where I live, at all. I’m not a criminal on the run or anything. I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but my dad is a congressman. And my ex is obviously a wannabe stalker.”

“Wait, Blaine? Was that his name? He’s your ex? The one that was just here?”

“That’s the one.” Sebastian took out his phone and showed Trina the photo he’d taken. 

“Look, I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” Kurt insisted. “You four are the only people who know where I live besides our families and Wes’s dad because he’s our lawyer. None of the Warblers besides Wes and David know.”

Trina nodded. “Got it. So, what games do you have?”

* * *

The girls woke up from their naps while Wes, David, and Trina were still there. Kurt picked up the monitor and Sebastian followed him to the playroom. Sebastian pushed the door closed and leaned back against it.

Kurt turned around and stepped towards him. He reached out and ran his hand down Sebastian’s shoulder to his hand and took it. “What’s wrong?”

“Will you just hold me?”

“Sure. Just give me a second to turn this off.” He sat the receiver down and flipped the monitor off. He came back and wrapped his arms around Sebastian’s torso and leaned into him. “Better?”

“Much.”

“You’ve zoned out several times while we’ve been playing Pictionary. Are you okay?”

He took a deep, long breath in through his nose and let it out slowly through narrowed, rounded lips. “I just needed you.”

“Well, you’ve got me now and forever.”

Rose joined in on the conversation. “Papa, Dada, muah.”

Kurt said, “Rose seems to think you need a kiss.”

“I do. I definitely do.”

Kurt kissed him and Sebastian relaxed even more. “I love you. Let’s get them changed and put them in their high chairs. They can play while we finish the game.”

Kurt didn’t move. “Sounds good to me. We can talk after everyone leaves. The girls haven’t played in the playard today. We’ll put their favorite toys in with them.” He kissed him gently once more. “I love you.” He turned and leaned back against Sebastian. He took Sebastian’s hands and put them on his waist and began to hum the conga song and sway his hips on the way to Rose’s crib. 

She started laughing. Kurt picked her up and Sebastian pulled out the changing pad and laid it in the crib for Kurt. He moved down and picked Aliza up.

“Hey, honey.” He kissed her on both cheeks. “Papa loves you. Did you have a nice nap?”

She babbled and cooed. 

He rocked her back and forth facing forward so she could see what Kurt was doing. 

“Dadadadadada.”

Kurt spun on his heels. “She just said my name.” He kissed her on the forehead and turned back quickly to finish putting Rose’s diaper on. 

Sebastian stepped closer with her and she grabbed Kurt’s shirtsleeve. “Dadada.” She squealed and laughed.

“Well, you’re in a chipper mood. And I am your daddy.” He ran his finger down her cheek. 

Sebastian laid her down and changed her while she continued to babble cheerfully. 

Once they had finished, they took them into the dining room and put them in their high chairs with toys stuck to their trays.

“Guess who just started saying ‘Dada’ like it means something.”

Sam said, “Aliza. She sounds like she’s talking when she’s babbling. It’s so cute.” He reached over and spun the toy that was stuck to her tray. 

She laughed and tried to do it herself.

They went back and forth several times.

Sebastian got Rose’s attention. “Can we try everyone’s names again?” He pointed to Sam. “Sam.”

“Fam.”

“Trina.”

“Wee-ya.”

Trina smiled and praised her. “Good job, Rose!”

She pointed at Trina. “Wee-ya.” She clapped for herself.

Sebastian pointed again. “Wes.”

“Wef.”

“And David.”

“Day-uh.”

“Close enough,” David said. “It’s a work in progress. Good job!”

Trina got up and moved in front of the high chair and put her finger on Rose’s chest. “What’s  _ your _ name?”

“Wee-dee. Wee-dee. Wee-dee.” She clapped for herself.

Sebastian said, “Your name is Rose.”

She shook her head ‘no’ quite insistently. “Wee-dee.”

Kurt’s eyes flashed. “Sweetie.”

Rose clapped. “Wee-dee.”

Trina stood back up. “I’ve got to get going, Miss Rose. But maybe your daddy and papa will invite me back to play with you and sign you both of for my music class.” She turned to Kurt and Sebastian. “It starts the second week of January and goes through the week before spring break. I think they’d love it.”

David said, “Give the hard sell a break, Trina. They already know about it.”

Trina rolled her eyes. “I just want them to come. They’re so cute. I have to go. I realized that what I’m wearing will not meet the family’s dress code for a dinner out. Sorry to leave early.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Sam got up and went to the closet to get Trina’s coat out. He held it out for her and helped her into it. He slipped his own on as well, wrapping his scarf up around his face and pulling his hood up, just in case, and walked her out to her car.

David said, “Well, Sam seems smitten with Trina.”

“I think so,” Kurt said. “I’m imagining that they’re trading numbers as we speak. He’s a good guy.”

“Long distance is hard,” Wes said.

“They can get to know each other without rushing into things,” David said, with a protective big brother tone to his voice.

Kurt pointed out, “Sam’s not 100% committed to living in Kentucky.” He winked at David. “Like he said, he lived in New York for four months and he’s helping his parents move to Lexington this coming week. It’s only about a three and a half hour drive. I checked already.”

Wes was chuckling silently behind David’s back.

“She’s never had a boyfriend.”

“Sam won’t push her if that’s what your wondering. He’s not like that.”

Sebastian said, “We’ll just have to wait and see whether they’ll be friends or more. Let’s finish the game. He’ll knock when he’s done.”

A couple of rounds later, Sebastian let Sam in. 

David looked at his phone. “We’re going to need to get going.”

“Thanks for inviting us over,” Wes said. “We’ll have to see what we can arrange before we go back to school again.”

They grabbed their coats and Sebastian let them out and rearmed the alarm.

Sam said, “I need to get going soon too. We’re renting a big U-Haul on Tuesday and I need to help get everything ready to load during the day tomorrow. I already packed my stuff up this morning.” He walked towards their study. 

Kurt followed him. 

“I worked on the paintings again last night for a while. All you need to do is seal them with whatever type of clear coat that you want. There’s matte, semi-gloss, and glossy. If you want them to look more like the oil paintings you have, I’d go with a matte or semi-gloss.”

“I’ll get some. Thanks for working on them. They look great,” Kurt said. “I’ll send you pictures once we get them sealed, framed, and hung up.”

“I was thinking of coming back in a couple of weeks. Would that be okay? I feel like it was kind of a whirlwind trip. I’d like the three of us to spend more time together. I’m not mad at Sebastian anymore. That’s all in the past. I can see how much he means to you. And although this whole situation is kind of  _ Twilight Zone _ , I can see that you’re happy, which is what matters.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For forgiving me for keeping you in the dark. I was so afraid I’d lose you either way.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m just a text away. C’mere.” He pulled Kurt into a bear hug. “I have two nieces now. You can’t keep me away.” He stepped back. “I didn’t go out back. Do you have a picnic table?”

“No.”

“I’m going to make you one. My nieces need to be able to have picnics in their back yard.”

“I want to get them a swing set too.”

“When I come back sometime in March or April, we can go get the stuff and build them one.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“I need to get going. I told my mom I’d be home for dinner.” He picked his duffel and backpack up.

“Okay.”

Sebastian was working on dinner in the kitchen, but he stopped and saw Sam out with Kurt.

“I’m glad you came,” Sebastian said.

Sam offered him a hug. “Me too. I’ll be back.”

They waved from the doorway. 

Sebastian rearmed the alarm and turned and wrapped his arms around Kurt.

“Let’s get the girls situated and we’ll talk.” He could feel Sebastian barely nod.


	25. Chapter 25

Sebastian moved both girls from their high chairs to the playard while Kurt went in the playroom to retrieve a basket of toys to entertain the girls with. He also put the cube with the different attachments that they had gotten for Christmas in the middle of the playard. He sat his phone on the end of the table closest to the girls and started a playlist of jazz music to provide a soft buffer of sound. He knew the girls couldn’t really understand much of what was said, but they could understand tone of voice. And Sebastian looked pretty emotional.

Sebastian grabbed his iPad and a splitter cable. He plugged his headphones in. Kurt grabbed his from their office and went back to the living room and sat down as close to Sebastian as he could get. He leaned even closer and kissed him just below his ear.

“What are we watching?”

Sebastian sighed. “The security feed from earlier this afternoon. I… I, um, might have gone too far. I kept my cool as best as I could.”

“Alright. I’m imagining that it was really uncomfortable.”

“Yeah. Let’s just watch and get it out of the way.”

“Okay.” Kurt put his earphones on and pressed play.

Sebastian reached out and pressed the button to pause it. “I’m pretty sure there’s some stuff said that you don’t know, plus there are things that you do know that hearing them said will be hurtful.”

Kurt nodded in understanding. “But you want me to see it.”

“Yes and no. I don’t want there to be anything that comes between us. And he could misrepresent what happened. He doesn’t know about the security cameras per se, but there is a sign in plain view in the front yard that says the property is protected by our security company, so he can’t argue that he didn’t know he was being surveilled.”

Kurt pressed the play button again. He interlaced his fingers with Sebastian’s as they watched the 10-minute video. He jumped when Blaine made his move. “Oh, God.” And again when Sebastian shoved him off. When it finally ended, he took the iPad and closed the cover. He got up and put it on the dining room table, quietly checking on the girls without them seeing him. Once he saw that they were both fine entertaining themselves, he went back to Sebastian.

“Will you move to the corner? I want to snuggle while we talk.”

Sebastian nodded. Kurt pushed the ottoman to the corner as well. Sebastian moved his legs so Kurt could get it in place. Once it was, Kurt climbed into the corner with him and took his hand, once again lacing their fingers together.

“Well, that was a lot to take in,” Kurt said. “I’m sad about what he tried to do. I’m glad that you have fast reflexes and he didn’t succeed.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“So, now there’s no misunderstanding. Blaine wants the gay version of a Stepford wife. And I really don’t have any doubts that I would have become that to keep him. Had I not gone to therapy and learned to identify the dynamics in my relationship with him, I would have gone to Mr. Schue’s wedding and probably hooked up with him and that would have fed into his soulmate idea. And I wouldn’t have told my dad what had happened because I would have still felt like it was my fault. And I would have accepted his proposal that day at Dalton last March. With everything else that happened right after that, I don’t know how things would have played out because he definitely wouldn’t have wanted to raise Aliza with me. Or maybe he would have agreed to it if we got married as soon as he graduated. He would have gotten the instant family and with his money, he could have played the ‘You can stay home with her while I go to school and once she’s old enough to go to pre-K, you can go to school too.’ Who knows? None of that matters now. I’m concerned about you. You were right in what you said to him. You told him that you weren’t interested and he tried to kiss you anyway.”

“I’m fine. I’m not going to dwell on it. He was a jerk. He thought I was being a tease. I’m not saying I deserved it, but I’m just saying that based on my past interactions will him, I did bring it on myself in a way because I had flirted with him and given him the impression that I had the hots for him. I’m not saying that it was my fault. It was entirely on him for not listening. But I do understand that in the time we’ve known each other, he had gotten mixed signals from me. But he should no longer be operating under any misinformation. I made it abundantly clear that I’m not interested and that he is not welcome here.”

“May I kiss you?”

“You don’t need to ask, ever, but yes. I’d like that very much.” He turned towards Kurt and pressed his lips gently to Kurt’s. 

They kissed for several minutes, comforting each other after enduring watching the video. Kurt pushed up and arranged so that he could get Sebastian to lay his head on his chest. Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian and began to hum the chorus of “Unconditionally” and then began to quietly sing.

_ Come just as you are to me. _ _   
_ _ Don’t need apologies. _ _   
_ _ Know that you are worthy. _

_ I’ll take your bad days with your good. _ _   
_ _ Walk through the storm, I would. _ _   
_ _ I do it all because I love you. _ _   
_ _ I love you. _

_ Unconditional, unconditionally. _ _   
_ _ I will love you unconditionally. _ _   
_ _ There is no fear now. _ _   
_ _ Let go and just be free. _ _   
_ _ I will love you unconditionally. _

Kurt said, “I know you’re feeling bad about what you said about what you did and the actual act of doing it.”

“Mmm hmm. Hearing those words come out of my own mouth made me feel sick. And very much unworthy of your love.”

“That reaction proves that you aren’t like that anymore. I never asked your motives before, but I found them interesting. I did react to seeing you in the audience. I can see why you thought making me really angry at you could throw my Regionals performance off, but your assessment of me being the center of everything wasn’t really true. That split lead with Tina, Quinn, and Mike was the first time I had been featured. By Regionals we had rejoined with the Trouble Tones and I wasn’t featured at all, so throwing me off wouldn’t have done much to hurt the group’s performance. I could have not even shown up, and, other than it messing with the group choreography a bit, I wouldn’t have been missed. I only sang backup on our group piece and a few  _ oohs _ and  _ ahhs _ on the piece Rachel sang lead on. I only had one featured line at Nationals.” He kissed Sebastian on the top of the head. “All of that just doesn’t matter now. I was really worked up about the lack of fairness and Rachel and Blaine and before that Finn, but it really just doesn’t matter now. Do I still love to perform? Yes. Will there always be someone better than me? Probably because there can only be one best performer for each role ever created, but that doesn’t mean that I would never get a role. But I might not.” He took a deep breath and kissed the top of Sebastian’s head again while squeezing him gently. “You and I dealt with this stuff last fall. None of what happened today makes any of it relevant again other than the fact that he actually came here in an attempt to seduce you.”

Sebastian chuckled. “I’m sorry. I know you loved him. I’m just having a hard time seeing why.”

“Rather than transferring to Dalton, I probably would have done better to ask for homebound services, which of course I did not know existed until after Dave’s attempt. But anyway, Miss Pillsbury, I mean Mrs. Schuester, should have told my dad about it. I would have still been able to participate in Glee Club because I would have still technically been enrolled at McKinley. I should have gone to therapy weekly, or even twice a week. I left one place where some of the students attempted to bully me into not being myself and enrolled in a place where the school rules preventing students from bullying me as well as preventing me from being myself.”

“Interesting way to put it.”

“A big part of the reason I was bullied was because of the way I dressed. I refused to ‘tone it down’ as Finn and my father suggested, so they both believed that I brought it on myself in a way.”

“Victim blaming.”

“Yes, but I do see their point. But what they could never see is that I could have bought the exact same clothes that Finn wore and I would have still been bullied. I figured if I was going to get bullied no matter what, I might as well wear what I wanted. If I had stayed on the Cheerios, I would have been protected from the bullying by students, but I would have lived under the control of Coach Sue, who is, by far, the biggest bully at McKinley. Anyway, I’m tired of rehashing my unpleasant high school years. High school ended a year and a half ago for me. We’re still good. Everything that I forgave you for is still forgiven. I’m not going to rescind my forgiveness at some point. I told you that I did petty things too. I was rude and condescending to people I didn’t deem worthy of my time. I’m not proud of it, but it’s a fact. But we’re not those high school kids now.” 

“No, we aren’t. I like my life now. I like my classes. I love living here with you and our girls. I have a very attractive husband that I love very much. He’s a very good snuggler.”

“I feel the same way. I think I opened Pandora’s box with meeting Blaine on the spur of the moment like that. I think the only way to fix it is to just take the lid off and just stop hiding.”

“I’m lost.”

“Blaine was here, trying to get you to hook up with him, all while saying that he still wants to get back together with me, which is never, ever happening. We already planned to go to the license branch first thing in the morning to get our new driver’s licenses. I’m feeling spiteful for what he did to you this afternoon and I feel like having Sam arrange another meeting tomorrow and just telling him that we’re married, so he’ll leave both of us alone.”

“Do you think that would work?”

“I think so. He came to you because he thought you’d be an easy lay. But if we tell him that we’re married, he’d know where I live. I just don’t want to deal with him anymore. Seriously. I broke up with him nearly 15 months ago.” Kurt closed his eyes and ran his hand through Sebastian’s hair while humming “Unconditionally” again.

“I bet there’s some code of ethics somewhere that could get Blaine thrown out for what he did to me and to you. Since the Warblers are a lifelong membership group, like a fraternity, the members are bound by a code of conduct.”

“But that would get you kicked out too, wouldn’t it? You tried to slushie me and Blaine ended up needing surgery because of it. Obviously, he was far less injured than I had thought from his lack of denying what you said this afternoon.”

“I’m not sure that throwing an ice cold drink at someone would be listed in a code of ethics from a group that was around from before ice could be gotten easily and electricity hadn’t been invented.”

Kurt laughed. “Point taken.”

“Which is why I got weekend detention for ‘unsportsmanlike behavior’. There was no rule against throwing slushies at the opposing team.”

“I don’t know that I want him banned from the Warblers. Mostly I just want him to leave us alone. No seducing you. That’s for me and no one else.”

“Sounds promising.” He tipped his head back and pushed up enough to kiss Kurt. “I’m certain that I would enjoy every second of you seducing me.”

“I have no skill at it, but I’ll do my best. Just don’t laugh at me, okay?”

“Why would I laugh?” He slipped two of his fingers between the spaces on Kurt’s shirt placket. “You have a singlet on.” He pretended to pout.

Kurt kissed the pout off. “It’s cold.”

“You’re so sexy, there’s no way I’d laugh unless you were being intentionally funny.” He started kissing Kurt’s neck towards his ear. “I’m sure if you focus, you can feel how sexy I think you are.” He stopped kissing Kurt long enough for him to focus on something besides his neck.

Kurt closed his eyes and was surprised to find that Sebastian was right. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” He smiled and continued to kiss Kurt’s neck. “It’s not just because of the girls, you know. If we had met this fall at some other club and we had been able to talk instead of snipe at each other, I would still have fallen in love with you. I love you for you, not because you’re good second father material. I wasn’t even looking for love. I honestly figured that accepting the role of Rose’s parent would push me out of the dating scene for the next 15 years because I wouldn’t trust anyone to co-parent her with me.”

“You weren’t going to date at all?”

“I know you didn’t realize the value of these paintings, but someone looking to case this place would. I would have never brought a date back here. I really didn’t care for the prospect of hook ups at someone else’s place. What if someone drugged me? How would I take care of Rose?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far into thinking about things, honestly. We met and started spending all our time together, and I fell for you.”

“Mmm. We haven’t spent nearly enough time kissing the last three days.”

“Is that so?”

“It is, but that buzzing in my pocket says that it’s time to make dinner.”

Kurt moved so that Sebastian ended up on his back with Kurt kissing him. He propped himself on his elbows and played with Sebastian’s hair while kissing him breathless. He kissed along his neck to his ear. “That will have to tide us over until we get the girls to bed.”

Sebastian quickly wrapped his hands behind Kurt’s back and pulled him down on top of him. “One more.”

* * *

Kurt plated the stew that Sebastian had started earlier in their Instant Pot. He took a deep breath. “With all of today’s distractions, we haven’t talked about what to do about my dad’s birthday party tomorrow.”

“Right.” Sebastian grabbed silverware and their drinks.

Kurt put the food on the table. He went back for the container of baby food. “We haven’t gotten around to making some more interesting baby food for Rose yet either.” He sliced up one of his carrots into tiny bites and put it on her tray. “We need to get some baby plates too.”

“We can do that when we go out tomorrow. What do you want to do about your dad’s party?”

“I want to go with you and the girls. What do you want to do?”

“Snuggle in bed all day.” He winked and smirked.

Kurt smiled. “We’ll do that Tuesday during the girls’ naps, both of them.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrow. “Really?”

Kurt nodded. “Pajamas optional.” He winked.

“Well, damn, Kurt. Can we just skip to Tuesday?”

“Sadly, I lost the ticket to get my time machine out of hock in New York.”

Sebastian cracked up.

Aliza started banging on her tray and laughing too.

Rose was too busy putting bites of carrot in her mouth to join in.

“I’m going to call them, I guess. I’ll feed Rose her green beans and then call.”

“She ate regular ones all by herself. I think we should try feeding her regular ones this week. She’s doing great with those carrot pieces. We could try squash cubes, pumpkin cubes, and maybe we can try asparagus this week. We could steam it until it’s really soft and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Broccoli, spinach, and peas don’t cut up easily.”

“We could make cream of those things, using her formula instead of milk. We could try out garlic and onion, separately of course, but those would liven up the bland green vegetables.”

“That’s true. Let’s give that a try on New Year’s.”

* * *

“I know I said I would come by myself, Dad. That’s why I’m calling. I don’t want to come by myself. I really don’t think you should have expected me to come by myself.”

“Kurt, you know that Carole’s relatives will not want a baby here. They’re expecting an adult party. I guess card games and alcohol from what she said. It’s not really the kind of thing for babies to be at.”

“Well, then we’ll come early and take you out for a late lunch.”

“And then, what? Leave before the party?”

“No, I’ll stay for the first 15 minutes or something, so I can say hi to Uncle Andy and Aunt Mildred, Cassius, and the other guys from the shop, and whoever else you invited that I know. And then I’ll leave with my family.”

Burt sighed. “Carole’s doing better because she’s had something to focus on for the last several days. I don’t want to upset her.”

“I get that. And I want you to enjoy your party. You deserve that. I guess we can talk about family events and holidays again some time before the next holiday. So, how about we come over at 1:00? We’re bringing Aliza’s crib with us to set up in your nursery. We got her a crib that matches Rose’s for here at home. That way you’ll be able to have them both there with their own beds.”

“Oh, okay.”

“You agreed, both of you, that you’d accept Rose as your granddaughter too and grandparents don’t just have a place for one grandchild to sleep if they have two grandchildren.”

“You’re right. You’re right. I just hadn’t thought about it. We’ve been working on getting people to bring folding tables and chairs so we can set up the card games. I guess it’s going to be kind of like casino night.”

“I’m sure you’ll have fun.”

“I guess everyone’s bringing different unusual kinds of alcohol. But don’t worry. I’m not going to be drinking.””

“Sounds like you’re going to need some rooms at a hotel.”

Burt laughed. “We’ve done that already for a couple of Carole’s family members. It’s too far to drive back to Zanesville tomorrow evening.”

“I don’t get the drinking theme since you can’t have alcohol.”

“I guess it’s some kind of tradition in Carole’s family for the 50 th birthday parties to be Vegas themed.”

“So, us coming at 1:00 and setting up the second crib and going out for a late lunch is alright? We can come back and help Carole bake or whatever.”

“Let me ask Carole really quick before I say yes. I’ll call you back.”

Kurt pulled the sheets off the Murphy bed and put it back up and latched it. He took the bed linens to the laundry room and put the sheets and blanket in and started the washer. He went back to the study and looked at the paintings. They had all come out really cute. He pulled his phone out and added clear sealer and frames to his shopping list. He put the paint brushes and paints in the cabinet to the right of the bed. 

He looked around the room and remembered that they were going to hang the painting that had been in Sebastian’s room in the center of the built-in bookcases. He rearranged the items on the shelves, removed three of the center shelves, and moved them to the floor of the closet. He stood back and adjusted a few things until it looked balanced again.

Sebastian stepped in the room holding Aliza. “We just came to see what you were doing, didn’t we, honey?” He looked at Aliza. “Let’s show him. Are you ready?”

She kicked her feet from the excitement in Sebastian’s voice.

“Say ‘Papa’.”

“Ba!”

“Good job! Say ‘Daddy’.”

“Dadadadadada.” She reached out for Kurt.

“You’re such a big girl.” He kissed her on the forehead. He looked at Sebastian. “What do you think?” 

“Oh, right. We forgot to do that. I’ll go get the drill and stuff so we can rehang it.”

Kurt put Aliza in the playard with Rose so he could help Sebastian. When Sebastian went to put the tools away, Kurt called Burt back.

“Sorry, Kurt. Things are a little _ heated _ here right now. Carole says that she doesn’t need anyone else to help her bake because her sister will be here to do that with her.”

“Alright. At this point, I give up. You tell me when I can see you, my father, on your birthday.”

“I’ll call you back. I promise. Give me five more minutes.”

“Sure.” Kurt went to move the sheets and blanket to the dryer and put the comforter in the washer. Just about the time he finished, his phone rang.

“Alright.” Burt blew out a huff of air. “Carole made plans for us to go to some Amish place for an early dinner with her sister and cousins I think she said. When Andy wanted to take me out to lunch, she suggested that he just join us for the early dinner and he turned her down and still wants to take me to lunch. I don’t know how that’s going to work. No one told me about any of this. So, I guess I’m booked for lunch and an early Amish dinner. Maybe I can get Andy to stay over tonight and we can go out for breakfast somewhere Tuesday morning. I know he’s off. So, umm. I guess you can come over before the party and assemble the bed and whatnot while we’re gone.”

“Are you free for breakfast?” We can come take you out and then go back and work on the bedroom stuff.”

“Carole already said she’s making me a big homemade breakfast.”

“Work with me, Dad. You’re only going to have one 50 th birthday and you can’t seem to schedule your only son and his family into it anywhere. Carole seemed fine on Friday. What happened since then?”

“Honestly, I think it’s her sister. Betty seems to be the one leading the charge on this whole thing. If I had to take a guess, it’s her way of trying to get Carole’s mind off the holidays without Finn. And since Finn isn’t here, Betty doesn’t really seem to think you should be either. You’ve moved out and moved on and good riddance I guess.” He sighed. “So, I don’t know how to fix this because I didn’t plan any of it. I certainly didn’t intend to have my entire day planned out for me. You know that you and I always had low-key birthdays. We’d hang out, watch a spy movie or a mystery or a comedy of some kind. You’d make me dinner and a cake. Usually lasagna because I love it.”

“Yeah,” Kurt said wistfully, thinking back to previous birthdays. “What time is your birthday breakfast?”

“I guess when I wake up? So, 8 or 9?”

“So, get up at 8:30 and have your breakfast. We’ll get there at 9:00 and put the other crib in the room while you finish up breakfast. We’ll visit for a bit and leave no later than 10:30. The girls can take their morning nap in their car seats on the way back home. That way, I’ll at least get to see you on your birthday. And if Carole says she has something planned then, just tell her ‘no’. You’ve gone along with everything else. I want to spend some time with you tomorrow too.”

“Sure, kiddo. Sorry. Sure, Kurt. I’ll see you at 9:00.”

Kurt slipped his phone into his pocket and stepped out of the laundry room just as Sebastian turned the corner to come down the short hallway. Kurt stopped.

“So, did you get it worked out?”

“Not to my liking, but it’s the best I’m going to get. It seems that Carole’s sister decided that planning a Vegas-themed party for my dad’s 50 th the way her family does would be a good way to keep Carole’s mind off the holidays without Finn. So, the only time left available in my dad’s day is after breakfast for an hour and a half.

“Oh. So we’re going in the morning and not to the party at all?”

“It’s gambling and alcohol. They’ve even gotten rooms for a few people at a hotel since the drive back to Zanesville is so long. It is what it is. At least I’ll get to see him. I didn’t last year since he flew back Christmas evening.” He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Sebastian.

Sebastian held him close for a few minutes. “Are you ready for our after dinner dancing? The girls have been patient.”

“Yes. Tomorrow on our way back, we need to stop to get the stuff to finish the paintings. I’d like to get them hung up on Tuesday and move the girls’ beds back to their rooms Wednesday morning when they wake up. Wednesday is New Year’s Day and we said that would be the day we’d spend the day with the four of us together and we’d put one of your big Lego sets together.”

“Yep. I’ve been looking forward to it.” He moved his arms to Kurt’s waist and began to waltz them towards the playard, which was just a few feet away. He stopped them at the edge and looked down.

“Up!” Rose demanded. “Up! UP!”

Sebastian let go of Kurt and leaned down to pick her up. She flopped towards Kurt. “Dada!”

Kurt took her and she grabbed his nose. “Nohf.”

“You took my nose,” he teased. “Give me back my nose.”

“Nohf.”

“My nose.”

She laughed. “My nohf.”

He took his “nose” out of her hand and stuck it back on his own face.

She shook her head no.

“Is it on sideways?”

“Nohf.” She grabbed for it again and this time opened her hand and pressed it against her nose like she was putting it on like he always did.

Kurt laughed. “My nose is too big on you. Let me have it back.”

She turned her head to block him from taking it back.

While they were horsing around, Sebastian had gone in the living room, turned on the music, and come back. He picked Aliza up out of the playard and began to dance around once Kurt had gotten his nose back on. They danced around and sang. When they finished, they took the girls into the playroom and put Aliza in the spinny seat and got out the play table with all of the toys attached to it. Kurt sat behind Rose and helped keep her upright while she grabbed for the different attachments to make them move and make sounds.

Kurt said, “Why don’t we stop by the OSU bookstore tomorrow while we’re out and pick up our books for next semester? We can take turns while they nap. If we get them out of the car before they sleep enough, they’ll just be crabby tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sure. I could run into the dance wear store and get new jazz shoes. Mine are ancient. It would give me a chance to break them in before our first class next week.”

* * *

Sebastian had just scooted back into Kurt’s chest after getting in bed after his shower when Kurt’s phone pinged with a text. He rolled onto his back and picked it up.

\--Bad news. Blaine isn’t going back to NYC.

Kurt called Sam. “You’re on speaker. What do you mean he’s not going back?”

“I signed on to Facebook after dinner while we were all watching one of those old _Air Bud_ dog movies. Blaine posted to the New Directions page that NYADA wasn’t what he thought it would be and he applied to other colleges this fall and he’s taking a break from school this semester and he’s going to be living in Columbus with his parents.”

“This is not happening. Ugh.”

“NYADA not being what he expected probably means the same thing that it meant when Rachel said practically the same thing. It means that no one is bending over backwards to make him the star of every subject he’s studying. He’s having to follow the rules and make changes to his , something that he and Rachel do not excel at.”

“He complained a lot about – I think it was Cassie. And how the choices he had for presentations were songs that weren’t suited to his voice and he should be able to make more suitable choices.”

“I’m sure he did. There’s no way that Katy Perry is on Madame Tibideaux’s Top 20 list.”

Sebastian and Sam both laughed.

“I appreciate you telling me, even though it’s not what I wanted to hear, at all.”

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll let you two get back to sleep.” After he disconnected, Kurt lay there on his back. “I think we’re going to have to reconsider our earlier idea to just ignore him and hope he leaves us alone.”

“We’ll deal with it tomorrow since it’s too late to call Daniel now.”

Kurt sighed. “I know.”

He plugged his phone back into charge and got comfortable snuggling up behind Sebastian when they were interrupted again. This time it was Sebastian’s phone that pinged with a text. He groaned, but reached out for it anyway.

\--My dad says he knows how to get Blaine to leave the two of you alone.

Sebastian dialed his number. “Please explain. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“My dad will come at it from a legal standpoint. He is harassing both of you. My dad will make it clear that this is an official request to leave the two of you alone and he will present him with a Cease and Desist letter, which of course has no legal clout, other than as a second request to stop after already verbally requesting him to not contact you. It implies that if the harassment does not stop that the two of you will pursue a legal and binding way to make him stop by requesting a restraining order.”

“Okay,” Sebastian said. “I had hoped a confrontation wouldn’t be needed, but after today, I’m not convinced that he understands the word ‘no’. Can we just do this quickly? I want to enjoy our last week of winter break.”

“My dad can meet at 2:00 tomorrow. I already asked Trina if she would be able to watch them for an hour or so and she said she could.”

“Alright,” Kurt said. “This just needs to end.”

They worked out the details and waited for Wes to confirm the time and place before they turned the light off and snuggled back up.

* * *

Huntsville

They arrived at the Bellefontaine location of the BMV and were the first two in line to get their licenses updated. They had all of the documents they needed and were processed quickly, which was a pleasant surprise. A half-hour later, when Kurt and Sebastian arrived at the Hummel’s, they found Burt’s truck in the driveway. When they pulled in, the garage door went up and Sebastian drove in. Burt closed the garage door once they were inside. 

“Come on in. Once I told Carole that you were coming over this morning, she made breakfast for everyone. I hope you’re still at least a little hungry.”

“I could eat,” Sebastian said as he got Aliza out of the back. He left her in her carrier since they were going to be sitting at the table for a bit and they didn’t bring their high chair seats.

Kurt followed him inside with Rose.

Carole was standing not far from the door. She greeted them. “First off, I want to apologize. When the planning started, it was just an idea for something to do besides sit around. And it just ballooned. I realized after Burt hung up with you that it had gotten out of hand. I’m glad you came this morning. Let’s go eat while the food’s hot.”

Fortunately, they had eaten breakfast a light breakfast at 6:30, so they could manage to eat again without too much trouble. They finished quickly to prevent the girls from fussing. They took them out and held them while Burt and Carole finished eating. When they finished, Kurt and Sebastian handed the girls off to them and brought in the pieces to the crib and the mattress. 

They lowered the crib that was already in the room to its lowest setting and moved it down the wall to the corner. They reassembled the other crib, put the mattress pad and sheet back on, and got it positioned on the same wall in the opposite corner. Kurt put the coordinating coverlet over the back to match the other crib.

Carole carried Aliza in to have a look. “They guy two doors down does woodworking. I’m going to have him make a 3-tier solid wood unit that holds those square fabric storage boxes to put in between them. Then, we’ll have a place for some books and toys. He said he could match the style and stain.”

“That sounds like it would be great,” Kurt said. “I think we’re done.” He took the spare sheet and put it in the dresser with the other one. “I brought back two sheets for the crib.”

“Thanks, honey. We’re flying back to DC Saturday afternoon. I was wondering if you two would consider letting us come over Saturday morning so we can spend a couple of hours with all of you before we head to the airport.”

“Sure.” He folded up the paper sack he had brought everything in and checked his phone for the time. “I think we’re due to head out. Your sister is supposed to be here in ten minutes.”

Carole nodded. “Let’s go get your teddy coat back on. Mimi and Papaw will come see you in a few days.” She carried Aliza back to the living room.

Sebastian got Rose ready to go while Kurt talked to Burt. Once the girls were in the truck, Kurt hugged Burt and wished him a happy birthday once more before they left.

* * *

Coffee Shop & Law Office – Columbus

Wes, David, and Kurt met Blaine in the coffee shop on the ground floor of the office building where Daniel’s office was. Once he had his coffee, they ushered him into the main lobby and into the elevator. They went up to one of the small conference rooms in the law firm that Daniel worked in. 

“What’s with the cloak and dagger routine?” Blaine asked. “I thought we were going out for coffee.”

“We did. You have coffee,” Kurt said. “Now, we’re going to talk, but I wanted more privacy than a coffee shop would afford,” 

Once they were in the conference room, Daniel entered and Wes and David stepped out.

“What is going on here?” 

“This is my lawyer, Daniel Montgomery. I believe you’ve met.”

“Yes. We met a few years back when I went to Wes’s house with the rest of the Warblers.”

Daniel nodded. “Kurt’s asked me to represent him because he’s asked you more than once to stop contacting him. He decided to make his request in writing this time.”

Blaine didn’t say anything.

“Before we go further, I’d like you to sign this non-disclosure form.”

“Why?”

“It’s to protect all parties involved. Everyone participating in this meeting will sign one. Whatever is said in this room today will stay between the people involved.”

Kurt said, “For one thing, it means that I won’t tell my dad that you’ve been actively looking for me and that I had to meet with you  _ yet again _ to ask you to leave me alone.”

“Right. Where do I sign?”

Daniel handed him a pen and a form. “Read it and sign at the bottom. What you’re agreeing to is spelled out.” He handed one to Kurt as well. He took them back when they had signed them. He notarized them. “Now, that we have that settled, our fourth party will come in.” Daniel texted Sebastian. 

He came in and sat down. He signed the form Daniel handed him. Daniel took it back, notarized it, and added it to the stack.

“First of all, I’d like to point out that the security company that Sebastian has a contract with reported your trespassing to the police. He’s not pressing charges  _ this  _ time. Don’t show up again or he will the next time.”

“Showing up uninvited is not trespassing.”

“Staying after you’ve been told to leave is,” Daniel pointed out.

Blaine rolled his eyes. 

Daniel spoke again as he slid a letter to Blaine to read. “Read that carefully.”

Blaine glanced at it, and then started at the top again. “Wait, what? Mr. Kurt Hummel-Smythe and Mr. Sebastian Hummel-Smythe? Is this some kind of weird prank that Wes and David are playing on me?”

“No,” Kurt said adamantly. “It’s not a prank. I told you on Friday that I was married. You chose not to believe me. You came to my home on Sunday and trespassed.” 

Daniel spoke up. “Kurt and Sebastian are legally married. I’ve seen the marriage license myself. They’re under no obligation to show it to you.”

Kurt pulled out his driver’s license. He got up and showed it to Blaine for just long enough for him to read the name and address. “You were at this address yesterday, so I’m sure you recognize it.”

“That could be a fake ID.”

“Blaine, stop. You are sitting in a legal office of a man that you know to be Wes’s dad, who you also know is a partner in this law firm. You can see it on the letterhead of the NDA you just signed.”

“Why all the secrecy?”

“My father is a congressman. I like living a private life for now. I’m not interested in being tabloid fodder.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

Sebastian finally spoke up. “No one said it had to. If you choose to disregard the Cease and Desist letter, I will file for a restraining order. And that will be served to your legal address. I’ll be sure that your father gets an official copy as your lawyer.”

“I get it. Leave the two of you alone.”

“Exactly,” Kurt said. “Have I made myself 100% percent clear on the fact that you and I are never getting back together?”

“Yes.”

Sebastian said, “Have I made it 100% clear that I do not want you to ever set foot on my property ever again?”

“Yes.”

“Do you understand what you’re being asked to do in the Cease and Desist letter?”

“From what I can see, I can only interact with Kurt and/or Sebastian in an official school function to which we have been invited, but even at those events, I’m supposed to refrain from speaking to them privately in any way that isn’t required.”

“Right,” Kurt said. “It mentioned ‘mature way’. That means don’t blatantly say to someone, ‘Please tell Kurt to meet me to practice.’ That just draws attention to the issue. Just act normal, but don’t actively seek to speak to either of us for any non-participatory reason.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Nope. That’s it,” Sebastian said. He stood up. “We’ll walk you out.”

Daniel went back to his office.

Kurt stood and said, “Wes and David are waiting downstairs. Let’s go.” 

Once they were in the elevator, Sebastian said, “The NDA – if you break it, I’ll make sure your father gets a copy of the Cease and Desist letter and a bootleg copy of the footage from the security cameras yesterday.”

Blaine’s eyes flashed. “Cameras?”

He looked directly at Blaine. “I’ve seen the security footage.”

Blaine blanched.

“I have the requisite sign in the yard,” Sebastian said. “Stay out of our lives and out of our business. Find someone new.”

“Go stay with Cooper in LA for the semester. Apply to transfer to UCLA. You still have time. Take some master classes in acting. Get some therapy and move on.”

The elevator door opened.

“How do you know that I’m not going back to New York?”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “You posted about it on Facebook. It’s public knowledge.”

“I posted it privately to a group you aren’t in.”

Sebastian said, “There’s no such thing as privacy on Facebook.”

They approached the coffee shop where Wes and David were sitting on a bench waiting for them.

“Everything settled?” Wes asked.

Blaine nodded. “Yeah. I don’t really have time to stay and chat. I have things to do.” He moved quickly towards the exit and left the building.

“Well, that seemed to go well.”

Sebastian nodded.

Kurt said, “I certainly hope so. Thanks for helping.”

“Sure,” Wes said. “Anytime. We’ll let you get back home.”


	26. Chapter 26

Kurt texted Trina as the pulled into the driveway so they wouldn't startle her when the garage door went up. They pulled in and Kurt pushed the garage door button to close it immediately. Kurt carried the tray of drinks and the bakery bag in and sat it on the kitchen island before he hung his coat up.

Trina came into the room from the living room with her phone in her hand, clearly still in the middle of texting someone. "They've been asleep the whole time, which is pretty boring," she teased. "You're not going to kick me out before I get to play with them, are you?"

Kurt chuckled and shook his head. "We actually brought you a hot chocolate and a banana muffin from the coffee shop since we didn't know how you like your coffee or if you even like coffee. I got myself a cinnamon swirl muffin and I'll trade with you if you don't like banana."

She opened the bag. "I love banana. And cinnamon. Actually, I'm not sure that I've met a muffin I didn't like. And I love hot chocolate. And I like good coffee, with three creams, three sprinkles of cocoa powder, one sprinkle of cinnamon, and one sugar, but only if it's really good coffee to start with. Meaning that there's this one place where I order that and only because the cute barista insisted that if I tried coffee the way he made it that I would like it. And surprisingly, he was right. I've never had coffee anywhere else that I actually liked. Normally, I order hot chocolate or a Diet Coke."

"Where is this 'one place'? I think I need to try the coffee there."

"Um, well, one day, I'll take you there. I don't actually know the address, but I could get it the next time I go. I tend to just drive past a place and act like I'm Guy Fieri and just wing it and try the place. That's how I found Donna's Dive."

"Sounds fun."

"It is." She took her muffin and hot chocolate to the table. She took a picture and texted it to someone before she took a bite. "This is really good. I've been to that place before, but I've only ordered the egg salad croissant sandwich. I tried it once and fell in love. I haven't been able to bring myself to try anything else."

Kurt's phone pinged. He pulled it out to see a text from Sam.

-I didn't get a banana muffin or hot chocolate.

Kurt laughed.

-I'll get you both the next time you come.

Sebastian hadn't said anything since they had left the coffee shop and was still zoned out, leaning against the cabinets, drinking his coffee.

Kurt sat down at the table with Trina. "You're free to stay as long as you'd like. Far be it from me to deprive you of changing smelly diapers," he teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"I'm going to go work on sealing the paintings that Sam and I worked on after I finish these. It was mostly him because I lack the artistic skill he has, but I learned a lot and I did help. The girls will wake up in about 30 minutes. I think I can get all of them done in that length of time. We have big plans to finish up the decorating tomorrow, so I want to be able to frame and hang them then."

"I looked at them. I hope you don't mind. Sam told me where they were."

"It's fine. The only room we'd like people to stay out of is our bedroom." Kurt got up to wash his hands and throw his trash out. He stopped in front of Sebastian, who was still just staring out into space, but he had moved and was looking out the window over the sink. He put his hand on Sebastian's. "Do you want to help me seal the paintings?"

Sebastian turned and looked at Kurt. He obviously had no idea what Kurt had asked him, but he kept hold of Kurt's hand and let him lead him out of the kitchen. Kurt looked back. "Feel free to watch TV or listen to a CD if you want."

She nodded.

Once they were inside the study, Kurt closed the door quietly. He slipped his shirt off before he opened the bottle of sealer and began to apply it to the whale painting. "You were zoning out in there." He stopped long enough to open the blinds to get more light.

"Going to Daniel's office brought back a lot of feelings." He sat down at his desk and watched Kurt seal the paintings. "That's their smallest conference room. I sat in there for hours reading legal documents and signing forms. We met with social services in there. It's been a long time. I didn't think it would affect me. It's different than living here, which was hard for about a month because I kept feeling like they'd be back for because they had gone places before and I stayed home for a few days. I don't feel sad living here. I have a lot of good memories here. I just don't have any good memories of that little conference room. And seeing Blaine be so arrogant about how your ID must be fake and asking if the whole thing was a practical joke set up by Wes and David. He acts like he's the sun and everyone else is an orbiting planet. Could he be any more self-centered? Don't answer that. I do not want to know the answer to that."

"You know that I don't have any positive feelings about him now, right? Like I can look back and I can see a few times when I actually felt positive around him and I enjoyed being in his company, but those don't come close to even breaking even with the number of times that I felt second or third on his list of important people. Much less do they come anywhere near balancing out the things he did that actually really hurt. I kept forgiving him and giving him the benefit of the doubt. But I have no interest in even being his friend now."

"I know that. I really do. I have no doubt whatsoever. But then I look at his smug expression when he was repeating the stipulations of the Cease and Desist letter. It's like he thinks that there's still some way around it, where he can talk to you and still change your mind somehow. I just hate that he's so delusional. I just hope he doesn't push it further. I really don't want to waste Daniel's time filing for a restraining order."

"Right now, I don't see him trying anything. My guess is that he told his parents some cockamamie story about how NYADA wasn't a good fit when I imagine that it was more like he couldn't hack the constant criticism. The instructors are definitely not the type to hold back what they think. Rachel really struggled with it, but she had me there to soften the blows to her ego, to help her see the instructor's point of view. Or if nothing else to tell her that since the instructor was giving the grade that she should do whatever it was that she was told unless she wanted a low grade. I told her that she was bound to meet some director some day who wanted something to be done a certain way, and whether she liked it or not, she'd have to do it or potentially get fired. She calmed down and say that she understood. In her own special 'Rachel' understanding, it meant that the instructor really didn't have an issue with the way she had done something, but that they were simulating a situation in which someone, with no skill obviously, would tell her to do something differently than she had, but she would have no option but to do as they requested. All I could hope was that somehow the suggestions she was being given would finally make them into her brain."

"It sounds exhausting."

"It was. Believe me. Anyway, I think at this very moment, his school funding could be in peril if he does something to annoy his father, like having people file for restraining orders against him." Kurt's phone pinged. He carefully put the paintbrush down and stepped towards Sebastian to have him pull his phone out of his pants pocket.

Sebastian carefully pulled it out and turned it towards Kurt.

-That was quick whatever you did. Blaine just posted on Facebook that he's already tired of the snow and cold of Ohio and he's decided to go spend the rest of the winter in LA with Cooper.

"Turn it around and read it."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "You were right."

"Text him back and tell him thanks for the info." He picked the brush up and went back to work. "So, that solves that for now."

"I feel like a weight has been removed from my shoulders. Seriously. I just had possibly crazy, but maybe not, thoughts of him sitting down the street watching us come and go. It just creeped me out."

"Well, he's off to LA, so good riddance for now." He moved on to the dolphin painting. "Why don't you take my shirt into our room and go ahead and change into something cozy? I'll change as soon as I finish these two. Trina wants to play with the girls. Maybe you can get the girls' laundry done."

"Sure. If I stay in here much longer, I'm going to be a big distraction when I start to kiss along your shoulders and your neck. You in those black singlets…" He got up. He kissed Kurt and left the room, leaving the door open.

* * *

Kurt joined Trina in the playroom with the girls while Sebastian worked on the laundry.

"So, if you could only tell me one thing about Sam that is important for me to know, what would it be?"

Kurt rolled a ball to Rose, who was sitting in front of Trina and was being helped to roll it back. He thought for a bit.

"Sam is very, very loyal and a great friend. He's had terrible dating experiences because the girls he dated, other than one, were using him for his social status as the quarterback on the football team. He's an amazing friend. If you're not sure you like him in a romantic way, he's still a great friend to have. He's the sweetest guy."

"Sounds like you have a crush on him," she teased.

"Back when he first transferred, he had his hair dyed beach blond like a surfer. And I'll readily admit that I had hoped he was gay or bi. He was completely adorable and so kind. I sort of tested my 'Maybe he likes guys' idea by following him out of Glee and introducing myself personally. I offered my hand and he just shook it like it was absolutely normal. I casually put my hand on his shoulder just like a normal guy thing and he didn't flinch back. He was the first guy I met that didn't treat me like I had cooties. It was very sad to find out that he is completely straight."

She laughed. "So, your one thing you want me to know is that he's your best friend and I shouldn't hurt him or use him like those other girls?"

"Basically."

She nodded her head and smiled. "Sounds like a best friend thing to say. I've never dated anyone and if we get to that point, it would be because I'm serious about him."

"I know you asked for one thing, but the other thing I would say is that I'd caution you about the great divide in your social status. You've eschewed many of the privileges offered to you. You've opted not to do or have things that were well within your family's means to provide for you. As a friend, or as more than friends, there will be a lot of times that you will feel compelled to fix something about Sam's life, ranging from buying gifts for his very adorable siblings to buying his hard-working parents a small house to live in. I don't honestly know how much money you have at your disposal, and I'm not asking. I just know that you can't just throw it around like it means nothing. You offering to pay for things all the time will cause friction."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes and thought about it. "I have more experience with this than you might think. I went to public school, a good one, but still. My friends come from all social classes. We bonded over our love of music and performing, not over a similar parental income level. I think you and Sebastian would fit in with them, if you're ever interested. I know you probably don't have extra time, but we still meet up and hang out and sing. There's Jane, who is my cousin and best friend. I mentioned that she was in the music theory class."

Kurt nodded and rolled the ball back again.

"Mason is her boyfriend. Roderick, who is a senior in high school and is dating Marley, also a senior, who transferred in at the beginning of last semester. I'm not sure where she went to school before. It was a terrible place though from the things she's said. Mason has a twin sister who is going to school in Cincinnati. She's around on the weekends sometimes, but they decided to try out being on their own for a while. I thought it was weird, but my mom and Jane's mom are twins and my mom thought it was a good thing for them to learn to be separate people for a while and that they'd end up closer in the long run than if they kept being a unit in people's minds. She said she and Aunt Tereza went through the same thing at their age. "

"I can see that. I got enough of it with Finn and he and only lived together for a year an a half. People would come over. I'd answer the door to someone asking 'Where's Finn?' How was I supposed to know? I can only imagine if I had a twin."

"Finn?"

"My stepbrother."

"Marley mentioned someone named Finn. Weird."

"There was a girl named Marley that went to McKinley last year. About 5'8", thin, long brown hair, dresses a little on the Boho style, skirts, boots, or pedal pushers with chucks. Seems pretty shy until she starts to sing and then, wow."

Trina chuckled. "It has to be the same Marley. She's told some whoppers about where she went to school."

"Not even having heard them, I'm going to say that they're all 100% truthful. The things that happen in that school are nuts."

Trina put the ball back in Rose's reach and helped her roll it away from them again.

"I appreciate the offer about hanging out with you and your friends, but I'm not sure how it would work out unless we can figure out a way for someone to watch the girls."

"I honestly don't think anyone would be bothered by them, but I can understand not wanting to have to try to juggle having to care for them while also trying to relax and have fun."

"It wouldn't be so hard here, but at someone else's house, especially since I'm imagining that the people you mentioned probably don't live completely on their own, it could be hard to do. Most college students would have no reason to consider baby-proofing their living area."

"That's true. You have that nice playard, which you could bring to my house. We have room for it, but you are right. Mason lives on campus. Roderick and Marley still live at home, as does Jane. She has room for the playard too, though. Anyway, it was just a thought. Jane co-teaches the Kindermusik class with me. She's not certified to run her own class yet, but she will be by this summer."

Rose got up and crawled off, having gotten bored with the ball rolling game. Aliza had been watching her from the spinny seat. Once Rose wasn't entertaining her, she wanted out of the seat to follow Rose around. Kurt took her out and put her on the floor. He pulled their box of books down and put it near Trina. Rose crawled over and demanded to be read to.

"Moo!" She dumped the books out until she found the one with the animal sounds and gave it to Trina.

"It looks like you're up for animal sounds," Kurt said.

"I've got this." She opened the book and started. "Moo!"

Rose clapped and moved closer and sat between her legs again. Aliza crawled over next and wanted to see the book too. Kurt excused himself to go check on Sebastian and help him with dinner.

He walked up behind Sebastian and wrapped his arms around him, leaning into him. He kissed him on the back of the neck. "Need any help?"

Sebastian put down what he was working on and leaned to his left to rinse his hands and dry them. He turned in Kurt's arms and said, "Mmm. I could use a kiss or ten."

Kurt tipped his chin up and kissed him several times. "I just feel wrong about not going to Dad's party."

"We can drive back there if you want. Maybe Trina would stay. I'll go talk to her." He kissed Kurt gently again. "You can peel those carrots if you feel the need to be useful."

Kurt picked up the peeler and got busy.

Sebastian stepped into the playroom to find Trina reading what looked like the fifth sixth book from the stack she had to her left. She looked up when he came in. He sat down on the love seat.

"I know we've already imposed on you today."

"I didn't mind at all. I didn't have any plans today." She sat Aliza on her leg and bounced her just a bit.

"Today is Kurt's dad's 50th birthday and his stepmom's sister helped her plan an adult party – Vegas themed. So, we went for breakfast this morning, but Kurt is torn. His stepmom's family is homophobic, but his dad is only going to have one 50th birthday."

"So, he wants to go, even though he doesn't."

"Exactly. We wouldn't stay long. It's 45 minutes each way and we'd stay less than an hour. It starts at 7:00, so we'd be back before the girls would go down at 9:00."

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's fine."

"We never did discuss your hourly rate."

"Oh, today's on Wes and David. They said it's part of their apology to the two of you."

Sebastian sighed. "Fine, but we still need to know your rates so we'll know how much cash to get the next time."

"$10 an hour for two little ones."

Sebastian nodded. "Sure. Dinner will be done in about 30 minutes. Kurt can attempt to teach you the song and choreography required to get Rose to eat the baby food vegetables."

She laughed. She looked at Rose. "Choreography too, huh? You're worth it though, aren't you?"

Rose clapped.

"Let's show Papa what you learned today while he was gone. Ready?" She pointed to herself. "Trina."

Rose scooted closer and put her hand on Trina's chest. "Wee-na."

"Good job, Rose. You got it."

She looked up at him. "Fam?"

"Sam went home. He went bye-bye."

"No Fam?"

"No Sam."

"No Fam," she repeated again. She looked up. "Weena?"

"Yes, Trina is going to eat dinner with us, and then play with you more."

"Weena ee?"

Trina said, "Yes, I'm going to eat with you."

Sebastian's face joy seeing Rose learning to talk. "I'll leave you two here to discuss this while I go help Kurt finish up."

* * *

"Kurt?" Carole said as she opened the door. "I didn't think you were coming." She stepped back, giving him room to step in.

Sebastian was right behind him and followed him in.

"Sebastian." She said, confused. "Where are the girls?" she asked quietly.

"At home. Trina's watching them," Kurt said. "I just couldn't not come to his 50th. We could have lost him last year, but he's here still and I want to be here to celebrate with him."

She nodded. "You can put your coats in your room."

They came back from hanging them up and walked into the living room and the room fell silent in a slow wave as people looked up to see what caused the silence.

When he looked up, Cassius called out and waved him over. "Come sit with me. Bring your friend. I need a challenge."

"Come this way with me first," Kurt called back.

Cassius got up and followed them down to the guest room.

"Cassius, this is Sebastian, my husband."

"We'll I'll be. It's nice to meet you Sebastian."

"You too."

"So you got married and didn't invite me?"

"I didn't invite anyone. We had to go to New York because we live in a backwards state without equal rights."

"Well, that's the truth. Congratulations, anyway. I hope you two are real happy together."

"We are," Kurt assured him. "We're not telling anyone else here because Carole's family is homophobic."

"What in the hell?" He caught himself. "Sorry. What?"

"It's unfortunately true. I wasn't going to come, but he'll never have another 50th party, and I have more right to be here than they do."

"Damn right." He caught himself again. "Sorry."

"I'm not eight anymore and Dad doesn't make you put a quarter in a jar for swearing in front of me now. I'm 20 and married. I'm pretty sure you can say whatever you please now."

"Well, that will make my life easier. You're going to clean my clock tonight, right?"

"You know it."

Cassius turned to Sebastian. "Never fall prey to those baby blues. He's a cutthroat card player."

"Mmm hmm." Sebastian smirked.

The three of them went back to the living room. Kurt stopped and greeted his Uncle Andy and a couple of the guys from the shop before he sat down with Rex, who worked at the shop as well.

"Deal us in," Kurt said, winking at Rex.

After a couple of hands, Rex got up and took his chips with him, giving Burt his seat.

"Alright, boys, time for me to win all of your chips."

"Fat chance, Dad. I've been beating you at Poker for a long time."

"Not tonight, though. It's my birthday and I'm feeling lucky." He swept the cards up towards himself and stacked them. He shuffled them and said, "Is that someone else knocking on the door?"

Kurt got up. "I'll go see."

While everyone was distracted, he switched the deck with the one in his shirt pocket. He went back to shuffling.

Kurt sat back down. "No one was there."

"Fine, fine. Let's get this going." Burt dealt the cards.

A few rounds in, Burt hadn't lost a hand yet.

Kurt looked up and stared at him. "When did you get new glasses? Those aren't the ones you were wearing this morning."

Burt's eyes flashed just briefly.

"Oh, my God, Dad. You're cheating. Those aren't regular glasses."

Burt cracked up laughing. "I wondered how long it would take you to figure it out. You're getting slow in your old age, bud." He was still cackling.

"Let me see those." Kurt reached out.

Burt handed them to him.

Kurt put them on and looked at the cards. "That's awesome. These are great. If I hadn't just seen you this morning, I wouldn't have noticed that they were different." He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "So, who got you the cheater deck of cards with the glasses?"

"Andy. He said that I deserved to win since it was my birthday." He stacked the cards back up and swapped them for the deck in his pocket again. "He might have implied that I had no other possible chance of winning."

"Of course he did. The door was the distraction. I am getting old. That would not have fooled me for a minute as a kid. But you were always trying to pull one over on me then. It's been a long time since you tried to trick me." He pushed what few chips he had left towards Burt. "We can't stay, so you might as well have them all, birthday boy."

Sebastian pushed the ten or so that he had left towards Burt as well. "Happy birthday."

"You're leaving so soon?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Burt said, as a wave of realization crossed his face. "Well, I'm glad you made it. We'll see you on Saturday morning." He stood up and hugged them both.

They retrieved their coats and hugged Carole before they left.

* * *

"You're dad was funny using marked cards," Sebastian said as they pulled away from the house.

"That's the most I've seen him act like himself in a long time. Andy did good with the gift. How much do we need to pull from the ATM to pay Trina?"

"She said that today was on Wes and David's dime as part of their apology to both of us."

"They don't need to do that. I don't need a monetary apology."

"We can take it up with them if you want, or we can just let it drop."

Kurt took a deep breath. He reached over and put his hand on Sebastian's leg. "What would think of singing a duet with me at the Warblers' thing? We could get Wes and David, and maybe Nick, Jeff, and Trent to sing with us?"

"What would you want to sing?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking that it would be fun to get to sing with you once."

Sebastian put his hand over the top of Kurt's. "It would be. I'll look for some options too. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and Wednesday."

"Me too. I'm glad we had Sam come and that you reconnected with Wes. I've enjoyed the last four days minus the parts with Blaine in them, but it's been a whirlwind. I just need some downtime with you."

"I agree. I know we said we didn't need to go somewhere for a honeymoon because we have our new master suite and it's so much more relaxing to be at home with the girls than trying to take them somewhere, but I really want time with you." He leaned over and used his other hand to put in a CD to listen to on the drive back.

* * *

Tuesday morning after breakfast, they put the girls in their playard and got busy finishing up their home projects. They moved the girls' cribs back into their room first. Once the cribs were out of the way, they put the white frames on the paintings and very carefully nailed them to the wall at each corner to create the effect of the frames being the edges of tanks they were looking into. Kurt had gone with the semi-gloss sealer to give them a bit more shimmer like water. Once they were all hanging, he used a small paintbrush to cover over the small nail heads.

After they put away the tools, they went into each room together to look at the finished spaces, starting with the study.

"Do you think it's going to work?" Sebastian asked. "Pulling your sewing cabinet out and putting it in front of the bookcase?"

"It will be fine. Even if I end up leaving it out overnight, it won't be in the way of opening or shutting the door. I think the only time it will be an issue is if I'm in the middle of a project and we need the space for a guest to sleep. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we need to. It won't be a matter of space, just an annoyance for whoever is staying with us if I need to spend time in here."

"More than likely, it would just be Sam and he seems pretty easy going about stuff. He can just hang out in the living room if you need to sew while he's here. Or if it's something you really need to have completely privacy to work on, we can roll your sewing desk into our room for the weekend." He took Kurt's hand and they went into the girls' room. "I really like the half pink, half lavender like this. It feels like the whole room belongs to both of them."

"It really does. I'm glad we painted it. While we're eating lunch, I'm going to wash and dry all of the fabric I bought to make them coverlets. I decided to go with ones big enough to fit the beds when they use them as daybeds. By then, they should be old enough to not throw them off the beds and actually snuggle up under them."

"I'm sure they'll be beautiful."

"I'm thinking of making a valence out one of the fabrics. We just have to pick which one and I'll go back and get enough fabric to make it."

"Similar to what's in the playroom?"

"Yes, but it can be a different style if you want. We can look at the most common types."

They moved across the hall to the playroom.

"I think it looks cute. It's kind of bare right now. We could get some stuffed sea animals and put them on the shelves," Kurt said.

"That's a really cute idea. Let's order some. And let's see if we can find some more of those felted boxes in different colors somewhere and order those too."

"I saw these framed prints with sayings in them that I liked. I'll show them to you. I'd like to make a few for the girls' room or the hallway outside the bathroom might be nice. They had affirmations on them like 'I am enough.'"

"You can show me those too."

The doorbell rang and made both of them jump. They went to the door together and Sebastian looked through the peephole.

"It's UPS." Sebastian opened the door and took the package and thanked the delivery guy.

Kurt locked the door and rearmed the alarm once Sebastian was back inside. He looked at the return address. "It's the second blanket. Let's go wash and dry it. It will be ready to put our on bed for our morning snuggle during the girls' nap."

"The pajamas-optional snuggle I was offered the other day?"

"That's the one."

"Into the washer for you," Sebastian said to the blanket. "I like this color. It's lighter than the one you got for the living room."

"I thought it would match our room better."

"It's perfect." Sebastian skittered off with it.

Kurt smiled and followed behind and took the packaging out to the garage quickly. He caught Sebastian in the laundry room still and when he turned around Kurt kissed him and turned him as he slowly backed him into the wall.

When they broke for air, Sebastian said, "This is not a complaint in any way, but what's with you pinning me to the wall in the laundry room and kissing me senseless?"

"Mmm." Kurt kissed up his neck. "I don't know. Maybe it's just that in here we're out of line of sight of the girls, but they're really like five feet away, and I can give you more than a simple peck on the lips. Or maybe it's you being domestic and helpful is a big turn on. Or both." He ran his hair through Sebastian's hair and continued to kiss Sebastian's neck. He lets his hands slip down and then under Sebastian's hoodie and back up, running his fingertips along his lower back.

"How much longer until naptime?" Sebastian asked.

"About 45 minutes, which is just enough time for the blanket to be ready."

Sebastian took a deep breath. "You're going to have to stop, even though I don't want you to. Let's go look at some of that stuff you mentioned until we can put them down for their nap. We can get in the playard and play with them and look at websites too."

Kurt stepped back reluctantly. He was breathing rapidly still. "Bas, I want you so bad."

"I'm all yours. Now and forever." He kissed Kurt gently. "Let's go buy stuffed whales and dolphins and whatever else we can find." He took Kurt's hand. "If we order them now, they should be here by Friday. Or if we find them at a store we can just go buy them from, we can do that after lunch."

* * *

Kurt came back from the laundry room, climbed back into the playard, sat down, looked over at Sebastian, and started laughing again. "I can't believe we just spent $150 ordering stuffed sea animals."

"They were adorable and mostly only like $5 to $7 each. He pulled up the email confirmation. We will be getting: a great white shark, a hammerhead shark, a tiger shark, a mako shark, a beluga whale, an orca, a humpback whale, a narwhal, a reddish seahorse, an orange seahorse, a blue crab, a hermit crab, a clownfish, a lionfish, two different shimmering jellyfish, two different sea turtles, a harbor seal, a harp seal, a sea lion, a walrus, a pink octopus and a lavender octopus. Sounds perfect. They can be decorations for now and as they get older they can play with them. They will look so cute in there."

"I know. But look at us. We're ridiculous, in a good but crazy way. I'm 20 and you're getting close. And we're all excited about getting a box full of stuffed sea animals."

"It was worth the $150 just for us to laugh so much."

Aliza crawled over onto Kurt's lap. "Dadadada." She grabbed for his shirt and pulled until Kurt picked her up and held her.

"That's me!" he sang. "That's me. That's me. That's ME!" He snatched her nose like he did with Rose. "Got your nose."

She laughed.

He put it back on.

Rose saw what was going on and wanted in on the fun. She crawled over to him too. "Nohf!" she said.

He grabbed hers and stuck it on his own face.

"No!" She grabbed his shirt and pulled to standing and grabbed for it.

"Did you see her?"

"I did. I am not ready for her to walk," Sebastian said. "A few more months of crawling is on the agenda for you, Miss Rose," he teased.

She turned and plopped down onto her butt and crawled over to him and patted him on the chest. "Papa." And then put her hand on her chest. "Weedee."

Sebastian chuckled. "We're going to have to start calling her by her name more often. She's convinced that her name is 'Sweetie'."

"Bottle time," Kurt said. He climbed out of the playard and started to work on them. "Why don't you review everyone's names with the photos on the fridge. We added the new ones yesterday and she hasn't seen them yet."

"Good idea." Sebastian climbed out and picked Rose up and carried her over to the fridge. "Mimi."

"Mimi."

"Papaw."

"Pawpaw."

"Amaline."

"Amawee."

"That's new," Kurt said.

Sebastian went on. "Sam."

"Fam."

"Wes."

"Wef."

"David."

"Dayah."

"Trina."

"Weena."

She pointed to a picture of herself.

"Weedee!"

He just smiled and pointed to Aliza next.

"Awhy-ya."

"What a good job! You got them all right!" He kissed her on both cheeks.

She kissed his cheek and said, "Muah."

Sebastian grabbed her bottle and went and sat down on the sofa. Kurt followed behind him with Aliza.

* * *

Kurt came out of the bathroom, quickly crossing the room and rounding the bed. He climbed under the covers and scooted as close as possible without touching Sebastian.

Sebastian lay there for a moment, staring at Kurt. And when he didn't make another move, Sebastian scrunched his eyebrows together and looked confused. "That's it?" he asked. "You offer me a pajamas-optional snuggle and you stop two inches from me? This is not a snuggle. I call foul for false advertising. What happened to you pressing me to the wall and getting me so worked up that I could barely think?"

Kurt laughed. "Didn't you ever watch _Hitch_?"

"It's not ringing a bell. What does it have to do with your false advertising?"

"So, in the movie Will Smith plays a guy whose nickname is 'Hitch'. He calls himself 'The Date Doctor'. So, the short version is that he teaches guys to go in 90% of the way for the kiss and wait for their date to close the last 10%. It was supposed to be funny, but I missed the mark this time."

Sebastian kissed him. And wrapped himself all around Kurt. And kissed him again. "No more obscure movie references messing with my snuggle."

Kurt laughed. "We'll watch it sometime. It's pretty funny." He pressed in and they kissed until they were breathless. "More kissing or shall we move on to the snuggling?"

Sebastian pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow. "Now, I have to pick _between_ kissing and snuggling?" He started to tickle Kurt. "There seem to be a lot of rules to this that I was unaware of."

Kurt grabbed Sebastian's hands and rolled him onto his back and leaned forward to press Sebastian's hands to the side of his head, down into the pillows, and kissed him. When they had to break for air Kurt kissed down his neck and back up towards his ear. "No rules, just fun." He kissed him for a while longer, and the plopped down to his side, but remained splayed out. "Better?"

"Well, I'm not going to say better, but it's more what I had anticipated."

"You're not upset about me teasing you, are you?"

"Nope. Just remember that sometimes payback's a bitch." Sebastian pressed a kiss to the top of Kurt's head, as Kurt snuggled into his chest.

"I'm well aware and looking forward to it." He tipped his head up. "I love you. I won't ever do anything to hurt or upset you intentionally. If I'm horsing around and you don't want to, just tell me. Like if you're actually tired and want to rest when we have time to ourselves. I'll lay here with you quietly, even I I'm not tired. I just love being close to you." He ran his fingers along Sebastian's chest.

"So just now, well a few minutes ago. What were you going to do when I leaned in the final 10%?"

"Tackle you to the bed like I did afterwards. It was supposed to make you laugh."

"So, when did this movie even come out?"

"I think like ten years ago."

"No wonder I've never seen it."

"It's a favorite amongst the rom coms the girls used to bring to our sleepovers."

"I see. So, we're going to have some of these rom com movie nights for me to catch up on the obscure references, right?"

"Sounds fun to me. I'll make my special puppy chow to snack on and we can kiss every time there's a part that makes you groan."

"Oh, puppy chow and kisses? Then, I'm all in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have added some of the S6 characters as background characters who are friends with Trina. Their general personalities are the same as in canon, but their ages are different. Roderick transferred to the school Trina went to rather than to McKinley. Marley transferred there as well when Sue kicked the Glee Club members out. Both are seniors. Madison and Mason never went to McKinley, but went to school with Trina all four years and graduated already. Jane Hayward is Trina's cousin and is also a few years older than in canon.
> 
> Puppy chow - For those not familiar with puppy chow, it's made from Rice Chex cereal, melted chocolate, peanut butter, a little salt, and dusted with powdered sugar.


	27. Chapter 27

When the girls woke up from their morning nap, Kurt and Sebastian changed them and put them in their high chairs and scooted them up to the island. They stuck a couple of toys to their trays and got busy working on their first batch of homemade baby food. They talked to each other and the girls in French the whole time they were working on everything. Once they had finished several things, they moved them back to the table. They brought small portions of the different things they'd made as well as a container of bananas for Aliza to try for her first food.

Rose was excited to eat her new options. Kurt's idea to use some of her formula to turn the broccoli, spinach, and peas into stew-like creamed vegetables was a hit.

"Moh," she demanded and pointed to the small bowls.

Kurt got up and put more in each bowl. _"Want to switch?"_

" _Sure. I haven't gotten her to do more than lick her lips when I manage to put a little of the food on them. She's just not opening her mouth because she's too busy trying to grab the spoon out of my hand." He smiled at her and said, "You have to let Papa get the spoon to your mouth to taste the food on it, honey."_

They switched places. Rose continued to happily eating the different vegetables.

Kurt looked at Aliza and smiled. _"I know you know what to do. You watch us feed your sister all the time. You just have to open your mouth just a little so Daddy can get the spoon in there."_ He played airplane with the spoon and tried to get her to open her mouth by opening his own and encouraging her to imitate him. He still wasn't having much success. _"Maybe you could distract her hands. Stand behind her and let her grab your thumbs instead of the spoon."_

They worked together and Kurt managed to get a tiny bite of the bananas in her mouth. She made some grimacing faces like she didn't like the flavor, but then she opened her mouth and let Kurt put another small bite in. She still grimaced, but she kicked her feet and smiled. After a few more tiny bites, Sebastian moved his hands off of her tray and picked the camera up and took a few pictures of her.

" _You did a good job, honey. I know it's hard to get all of those things coordinated at once."_ He managed to get the rest of what he had brought to the table into her on his own.

Sebastian took more photos using his phone so they could send them to his grandparents and Burt and Carole.

Once they finished, they pushed the girls back over to the island and cleaned up from their experiment. They continued to dance around and sing made up songs in French about food, cooking, and eating, much to the delight to their audience of two.

Kurt changed the theme of their made up songs to animal sounds and got Rose to join in on the songs.

"Annnnddd the cow says…"

"MOO!" Rose offered.

Sebastian joined in. He used the island as his drums and sang, "The sheep, the sheep, the sheep. What do the sheep say?"

She banged on her tray and squealed, "BAAA!"

They sang through all of the sounds she knew while they finished cleaning up and made the girls' bottles. They took them out of their high chairs and into the living room. Kurt and Sebastian snuggled up in the corner of the sofa and held the girls so the were facing each other while they drank their bottles.

* * *

While they were working on the laundry, Kurt kept brushing up against Sebastian and reaching around him and running his hands across whatever part of Sebastian was closest to what he was reaching for, along his arm or across his back. When he had finished mating the socks he took them and the few outfits that were on hangers to the girls' room to put them in their dresser and the closet. Sebastian came in a minute later, carrying their sleepers and put them in the drawers. Kurt stepped out of the closet and looked at their room.

"Do you want to see the fabric and my idea for the designs?"

"Of course. I'm sure they will be adorable."

"Let's move the playard so it's in the hallway so we can watch them from the study. You can actually help me if you want."

"I don't know the first think about sewing."

"But I'm betting that you are completely capable of cutting the fabric using my rotary cutter and mat."

"If you think I can do it and not mess things up, I'd love to help."

Kurt stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Sebastian and leaned into him. "Our snuggle got me all touchy-feely. It feels like our winter break just flew by. I want another week with you." Kurt let go of him and moved out into the dining room to reposition the playard. "You said that you used to go spend the weekend at your grandparents."

Sebastian followed him and helped. "I did. It was fun."

Kurt went to the laundry room and grabbed the ironing board and iron and took them into study before the completely blocked the door with the playard.

"We could start going to my parents' and spending the night there when they're gone and get the girls used to spending the night there with us. We could go there at dinnertime on Friday, spend the night and come back home after breakfast a couple of times. We could take the playard the next couple of times and stay longer each time. Then we could stay a couple of times when my parents are home and come home after breakfast, letting them stay there for the day on Saturday. And then they should be used to it enough to not get upset. After that, we could just go for dinner on Friday and then come home when they go down at 9:00. My parents could bring them back Saturday after dinner. They were wanting to spend more time with them and with us. If we did that once or twice a month, depending on when they're in town, it would be easier on them than coming here since they're in Ohio so infrequently."

"I think that sounds like a really good plan. We just need to find out when they'll be in town, so we can plan."

"I'll send Carole a text asking her their schedule for the next couple of months. It might actually work better if we go to dinner on Saturday and the girls stay over until they're on their way back to the airport. We can let them pick." He climbed over the side of the playard and into their study.

"That works for me," Sebastian followed him in.

Kurt pulled out the different fabrics bought and laid them out. He showed Sebastian the sketch he had done.

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"I worked on it after I dropped you and Sam off at the theater. You did have a good time with Sam, right? I know it was a short visit with not all that much time with just the two of you to be able to get to know each other."

"Sam and I are going to be fine. We had it out in the garage. We yelled a bit and there were some tears. And now we're fine."

"Yelling and tears?"

"Mostly he yelled. I was the one who cried."

"Why?"

"He just pointed out a lot of things."

"Like?"

"Just how forgiving you are. How brave you are. How deeply you love. How lucky I am." He reached out and ran his thumb across Kurt's cheek and slipped his hand alongside Kurt's neck. He stepped closer and kissed Kurt softly.

"I can say the last three of those about you too, you know? We're not the petty teenagers we were when we met. We've moved long past the point where winning a show choir competition is the most important thing to us."

"Possibly," Sebastian said, trying to hide his guilty smile.

"Possibly?"

He kissed Kurt again. "I _really_ want to show Blaine up at the Bicentennial Concert." He wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist. "I have a deep-seated need to be great at the concert. And I absolutely do want to sing with you _and_ I want us to be better than you and Blaine singing 'Animal'."

Kurt chuckled. "That's going to be tough since 'Animal' will be backed by the entire group of Warblers."

"I know. I've been thinking. I have a song in mind, but we can talk about that later. Let me help however I can with their quilts. I want to do it with you."

Kurt nodded and stepped back. He separated the different prints and put them in stacks and got out everything that Sebastian would need. He showed him how to use everything and let him to get started while he set up his sewing table.

* * *

Once they girls were down for their afternoon nap, they faced the dilemma of going back to work in the study and continuing to work on the quilts or going back in their room to snuggle.

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt as he turned around from closing the girls' bedroom door. "I really want to snuggle with you like we planned, but I really like how much progress we've made together on the quilts. Would you be upset if we go back and work on them? It's a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I never really considered the geometry and mathematical skill involved. Drawing the design to scale and then figuring out the order the pieces have to be put together in – it's like a big puzzle."

"Let's go work on them. I'd love to get them done. And you've caught on quickly and you're actually really helping a lot. With you pinning the pieces together it's going about twice as fast because I'm not having to stop to do that part."

They went back to work on the quilts.

* * *

When the girls woke back up, Kurt and Sebastian were both surprised at how far they had gotten.

"Why don't you keep working on it?" Sebastian suggested. "It would be nice for them to be done to put in their room for New Year's tomorrow. It would be like finishing the whole house renovation. I'll get them changed and set them up to play in the playard again. I'll swap out their toys and put a CD in for them to listen to."

Kurt nodded.

* * *

After they put the girls to bed that evening, Kurt went back to working on the quilts while Sebastian prepped some food for New Year's Day. He also moved the playard to the living room. About 10:00, he went back to check on Kurt's progress.

"How's it going?"

Kurt held up Rose's quilt.

"Oh, that's so cute."

"So the top is done minus the appliqué which will go on this part once I've quilted it.

"I love the idea of you sewing their names along that long section."

"When they get twin beds, these can lay across the end of the beds like coverlets and their names will still show with them folded in half."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"All that's left is the actual quilting on both of them and then the name appliqués."

He leaned down and kissed Kurt. "I know I said I wanted to go ahead with our original plans, but you're on a roll there, making progress so quickly. Are you okay going ahead and finishing? I can go work on cooking more so we'll have more free time the rest of the week."

"Sure."

Sebastian leaned over and kissed Kurt before he left the room.

* * *

Sebastian did work on some food prep, but his actual goal was to finish the special dessert that he had started on earlier. He went back and checked on Kurt's progress periodically to gauge his timing. When he went to check on Kurt about 11:30, he had finished the diagonal quilting, but he hadn't put the binding or the appliqués on.

"I'm not going to be able to finish unless I stay up a few more hours," Kurt said when Sebastian came back again.

"It's okay. How about you just leave it until the morning. You can work on it and I'll play with the girls in the playroom until you're done. I'll read the Moo! book 20 times if need be," he teased.

"You're sure? We already changed our snuggle-all-day plans for today."

"I know. Come with me now, please? You can finish in the morning."

Kurt turned the sewing machine and iron off and followed Sebastian. When he turned the light off as they left the room, he realized that it was nearly dark in the rest of the house. Sebastian took his hand and led him into the dining room, which had a lot of open space because after Sebastian had moved the playard into the living room, had also moved the table closer to the living room, giving them even more space. The rope lights above the cabinet were turned to solid blue he could hear music playing from the living room.

"Dance with me?"

Kurt stepped into Sebastian's arms. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

Sebastian kissed him. "You're welcome. Maybe some New Year's Eve will go out clubbing, but for our first one, I like the privacy here."

"Me too. Maybe we can go out once we get the girls used to spending the night at my parents."

"Mmm hmm," Sebastian hummed, as he pressed his lips to Kurt's neck. "It really has been a whirlwind like you said." He kissed up his neck. "You don't regret it, do you?"

"Marrying you?"

"Moving so quickly."

"I'm happy here with you and the girls. Why do you?"

"Not one bit." He stood up and assumed a more formal dance position as the song faded out. The next song was a waltz and he began to lead Kurt around the open space rather than just swaying in place like they had been.

After two more songs, Sebastian stepped closer and kissed Kurt. "I have a surprise for you."

"Really? What?"

"Sit at the table and close your eyes." Sebastian went to the refrigerator and pulled out the strawberry cheesecake that he had made earlier that afternoon. He had sliced the strawberries in half and placed them on top in the shape of a heart. He changed the rope lights to red on his way to the table with the cheesecake. He sat it down in front of Kurt and said, "Open your eyes."

"Aww. It's beautiful. You're so sweet to me." He wiped his eyes. "Thank you."

"I know how you like to eat healthy and you love cheesecake. This one is made with honey and has a nut and coconut crust. It sounded good, so I guess we'll see."

Kurt noticed that Sebastian's camera was sitting on the table. "What's the camera out for?"

"Well, a lot of times at wedding reception, there's a small cake just for the couple, and they feed the first bites to each other. I thought maybe we could do that with this cheesecake."

"Sure. Did you already take a picture of it?"

"No."

"Okay. Let's to do that and then set the timer and use the setting that takes 10 shots in a burst. Sure one of them will be good."

They maneuvered everything around and got it all set up and fed each other bites of the cheesecake.

"It's actually really good. It has a different texture and it's not very sweet, but I like it a lot," Kurt said.

"Me too."

They continued to feed each other.

After their last bites, Kurt got up and straddled Sebastian's lap and kissed him. "I love you, Bas."

"I love you too."

Before they got carried away, the alarm that Sebastian had set so they could count down to the New Year went off at 11:55.

"Five minutes until midnight," Sebastian said. "Do you want to watch the ball drop?"

"Yes." Kurt stood up and walked towards the living room. "I wanted to go last year, just to go once, but I didn't know anyone to go with and I wasn't ready to face a crowd like that on my own. I've heard it's crazy." He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.

Sebastian stepped into the kitchen and quickly poured sparkling grape juice into two champagne flutes. He took them to the living room and handed one to Kurt, who looked confused.

"It's just sparkling juice. You know there's wine in the pantry, if you want that instead."

"No, this is perfect."

The countdown began.

_10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1!_

"Happy New Year!" they said at the same time before they kissed.

Before Kurt could take a drink, Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt's and made a toast. "To a year of new experiences, filled with love, joy, and happiness."

Kurt nodded and smiled. They tipped their glasses with their arms intertwined and they drank at the same time.

Kurt took their glasses to the kitchen and came back to find the TV off and Sebastian stretched out on the sofa waiting for him to snuggle. As soon as he lay down facing him, Sebastian pulled the blanket down over them and attached his lips to Kurt's neck and started kissing him.

"You're so beautiful," Sebastian said as he kissed Kurt's neck.

"And you're so sweet."

"You've rubbed off on me."

"Not yet, I haven't," he teased.

"Kurt!" Sebastian pretended to be scandalized.

"But maybe soon," he continued to tease. He kissed him and pressed in until there was no space between them slipping his leg between Sebastian's and wrapping his arm under Sebastian's and holding him close while he gently licked his way into Sebastian's mouth, causing him to moan.

When they broke apart to catch their breath, Sebastian asked, "What will increase my odds?"

"The sweetness is a big turn on. And kissing me like that is a surefire way."

"Hmm. Sweetness and kissing. I can handle that." He ran his hand down Kurt's back, over his butt, and stopped at his upper thigh.

They lay on the sofa kissing until they had to get up to feed the girls about ten minutes later.

* * *

New Year's Day morning, Kurt woke up before the girls. He slipped out of bed quietly and went into the study and pulled the gifts he had hidden out and put them on the table. He made coffee for each of them and a large omelette to share. When he was done, he put everything on a tray and carried it to their bedroom.

"Bas?"

"Yeah? I didn't hear them wake up. I'm sorry."

"They're not awake. Sit up, please."

"Yeah, okay." He rolled onto his back and pushed up in the bed. He grabbed the hoodie he had put over the headboard when he got in bed and slipped it on. He reached over and turned the bedside lamp on and finally got his eyes to stay open and saw that Kurt was standing there with a tray. He pulled his legs up criss-cross.

Kurt put the tray down and sat across from him.

"This looks delicious. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He cut a bite and held it out for Sebastian to take.

After he swallowed, Sebastian took a sip of his coffee. "You're better than the baristas, you know."

"I didn't, but I'll keep it in my potential career options in case teaching doesn't work out."

"You'll be amazing at whatever you decide on. I don't think it's in you to not be great at whatever you do because you put all of yourself into everything you do."

"Flatterer."

"Nope. Flattery is exaggeration to win favor. I'm telling you how I see things."

Kurt blushed a bit and nodded. He was still unused to anyone saying complimentary things about him so freely and without expecting an equal or greater compliment in return. He cut another bite of the omelette and fed it to Sebastian.

They finished quickly and Kurt put the tray on the floor next to the bed and climbed under the covers and straddled Sebastian's lap.

"Happy New Year. I just wanted to spend a little time with you before the girls get up."

He wrapped his arms around Kurt's lower back. "Mmm. I'm not usually one for enjoying being woken up early, but you're my exception to that." He tipped his chin up wanting Kurt to kiss him.

Kurt leaned down a bit and pressed his lips gently against Sebastian's. "I love you." He wrapped his hands behind Sebastian's neck and played with his hair while they kissed for a couple of minutes. He sat back up and said, "So, our slightly altered plan is that I'm going to go finish the quilts and you're going to feed them both breakfast and play with them. And I'm going to hopefully finish before they go down for their morning nap."

"And then we're going to snuggle while they nap. And when they get up, we're going to feed them and then change them into their Christmas outfits from Grandma, take some photos, let them open their presents, and we're going to play with them and attempt to watch _Frosty the Snowman_ or something similar if we can't find it."

"Yep. But first, how about more kissing until they wake up?"

Sebastian moved his hand and wrapped it around Kurt's neck and pulled down gently to kiss him.

* * *

Once the girls were dressed, Kurt and Sebastian set the camera up to take a burst of 10 shots like they had done the night before. They put the girls in the playard and climbed in with them with their gifts. They each had two because Kurt and Sebastian had gone shopping before they started dating.

Kurt put the two that he had gotten in front of them and Sebastian's put the two he had behind his back.

"Come see what's inside the paper," Kurt encouraged them. "There's a surprise inside."

Rose was intrigued, but Aliza wasn't until she saw Rose crawl over towards the packages.

Kurt said, "It doesn't really matter who opens them, they'll both end up playing with them. Can you try to get a picture of them? I'll try to help them open them."

Sebastian did his best to get the packages in the photo with the girls and Kurt. He took a photo of them just looking at them. Kurt started the process by tearing a piece of the paper to show part of the toy inside. That got Rose's attention. She helped Kurt pull more of the paper off to reveal a pop-up toy.

Kurt pressed flipped the switch and a little giraffe popped up.

Rose squealed, and then laughed.

Kurt pushed it down and flipped the switch again.

Rose squealed again.

Sebastian pushed it down a third time.

Rose grabbed for the switch to flip it and made herself jump and squeal.

This back and forth went on for a few minutes between the three of them. Aliza sat and watched them, and then crawled closer.

"You want to open the other one, honey?" He scooted her closer and helped her pull the paper off. "This one has Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy." He pressed the red heart and Minnie popped up.

Aliza jumped a little, but didn't seem afraid.

Sebastian pulled the green lever down and Pluto popped up.

The four of them played with both pop-up toys until Rose lost interest and wanted Sebastian to hold her.

"Let's try watching _Frosty_ for a while," Kurt suggested. He reached over the edge of the playard and pressed play on the remote. He picked Aliza up and sat her on his lap and bounced her.

After about 10 minutes, it was obvious that neither one of them was going to look at the TV. Sebastian reached behind him and pulled out the two gifts he had behind his back, which were brightly colored stuffed teething toys. One was raccoon and the other a fox. He handed them each one. Rose examined hers before sticking in her mouth to chew on one of its feet, which made it squeak. Aliza just shook hers to make it rattle.

"Well, I think we did a good job. They like both gifts. Those teething rattles are adorable," Kurt said.

"I thought so. I washed them yesterday, so they could chew on them right away. The ears make crinkly sounds, which I'm sure they'll like once they figure it out."

"I know the pop-up toys are a little advanced, but they'll get the hang of it. And Rose liked them quite a bit. Aliza will grow into them and I'm sure she'll copy Rose soon enough." He reached out and took Sebastian's hand and interlaced their fingers. "They're both so beautiful and amazing. It's fun to just sit and watch them explore and discover things."

"I agree." He rubbed his middle finger across Kurt's wedding ring absentmindedly as they watched the girls crawl around and play.

After a few minutes, Kurt said, "Do you want to open your gift. It's just something small. I bought this for you before we got together, so like I said, it's just something small." He had it sitting next to him and handed it to Sebastian.

He let go of Kurt's hand and unwrapped it. He opened the end of the box and pulled out two triangular, 6-sided metal drafting rulers, one royal blue and one black, and a silver traditional ruler. "These are really nice. Thank you."

"I noticed that the lines on yours were missing in a few places and the numbers were wearing off. These are laser etched and guaranteed to never come off. Supposedly they won't bend or twist and will stay perfectly flat."

"It's nice that they have a storage bag for each one too. That way they won't get dirty in my backpack. Don't sell yourself short about it just being something small. It shows how much you were paying attention. I really like them." He leaned towards Kurt and kissed him. He pulled a flat wrapped box about the size of a sheet of paper from behind him and handed it to Kurt.

"You had the contractor in to do all of that work for me and Aliza. You didn't need to get me a gift."

"The renovations were for all of us – to make this place our home."

Kurt nodded and swallowed hard. He held back the tears that were trying to spill. He removed the paper to find a leather iPad cover that matched his black leather satchel, one of the few things he had gotten while working at _Vogue_ that he hadn't sold off when he left New York City. "Thank you. It's perfect. I'm going to go put the iPad in it. I'll be right back. I'll put your rulers in the study too." He picked them up and took them with him.

His mind drifted to the satchel as he walked towards their study. It had been a going away gift from Isabelle. He loved how soft it was, how comfortable it was to wear, and how much better it looked with his various pairs of black Docs and the clothes he wore to school, which were quite different from his high school days. He thought about how they bordered on edgy with a bit of a Goth vibe. Tina came to mind briefly and he wondered how she was doing at Brown.

He put the rulers on Sebastian's desk and crossed the room back to his own. He took the case out of the box it was in and opened it to remove the Styrofoam from the inside and put his iPad in it. He closed it and ran his hand over the leather and smiled at the thoughtfulness of the gift. He even let the probably ridiculous cost of a leather case slide. He knew that Sebastian wasn't trying to lord the expense over him, but genuinely wanted Kurt to have a nice case to match his bag, to make the iPad his.

His mind drifted back to his clothing transition. He wandered out of the room and into their closet and looked around. He saw his slim jeans in shades of blue, gray, and black. He still favored unique jackets with unusual brooches, but had given up a most of his colored slacks. He kept only select brightly colored shirts, and had gotten rid of the knee-length sweaters, which he had mostly used to hide his body that he didn't like. He had kept his unusual and unique hoodies and wore them frequently as well. He had found a way to express himself in a more confident way through his clothes over the years and enjoyed being himself in a way that made him feel good, but didn't call as much attention to himself.

When Kurt didn't come right back, Sebastian got up to find him. He peeked into their study, finding it empty. He didn't see him in either of the girls' room, so he headed into their bedroom. Noticing Kurt in their closet running his hands along his hanging clothes, he stopped right inside their suite.

"I called and we can get our IDs redone tomorrow. I thought we might go out for lunch and then take turns getting our IDs redone before we come back."

Kurt didn't respond.

Sebastian stepped into the doorway of the closet.

Kurt turned when it registered that Sebastian was there. "What? I'm sorry."

He put his hand on Kurt's shoulder gently. "You were zoning out."

"Yeah, I was thinking about how perfectly the iPad case matches with my messenger bag and then I started thinking about New York and my clothes. Sorry."

He squeezed Kurt's shoulder a little. " Are you sad you left?"

"I miss working at _Vogue_ sometimes. It was just fun to be at the heart of so much excitement and–" He took a deep breath. "Yes, there are things I miss, but there are others that I don't. I didn't like how catty a lot of the NYADA students were. It was a lot like being in high school still, but with a student body made up with 50% of the students being like Rachel."

"Ooh. Not fun."

"There was a hierarchy and I made my way to the top quickly by beating Rachel at Midnight Madness not long after she had won the Winter Showcase. But I wasn't interested in playing the social standing game, and that pushed my status down with the sycophants who didn't appreciate my not being interested in letting them flatter me and ride my coattails. I actually like the anonymity of going to class at OSU a lot of the time. It allows me to focus on what's being taught rather than worrying about what gossip is being spread about me." He leaned into Sebastian. "Enough about all of that. It's in the past. I can be certain that if I had stayed at NYADA with Blaine enrolled that it would have made it twice as hard with him being around all the time. What did you say that I missed?"

"I said that I called yesterday and we can get our IDs redone tomorrow. I was thinking that we could go out for lunch and then take turns getting our IDs redone before we come back."

"That's a good idea. I actually figured the office was closed and didn't even bother to check. I was going to try to fit it in Monday at some point, but tomorrow will be a lot better. I still wish I had another week with you. The case looks really good and it really does match my bag perfectly. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I knew you wouldn't want to take it out without one."

"Definitely not."

"What were you thinking about your clothes? Do you want to go shopping or something?"

"No. I mean I loved to shop, but I've gotten so accustomed to not doing it anymore that it doesn't really call to me the way it used to. I had too many clothes, which is something I'm sure that 15-year-old me would have never thought that 20-year-old me would say. I ended up with far too many things that were single outfits – pants that only looked good with one or two shirts and shirts that only looked good with a particular jacket or pants. I was on this quest for years to define myself by what I wore. I was out, proud, and bold. And there's nothing wrong with that. It was also a bit of a defense mechanism that kept people talking about my clothes instead of me. I knew no one liked me, but it was easier to listen to them badmouth the way I dressed than for them make it past my self-built walls of fashion and insult me personally. It doesn't matter that what I said doesn't really make sense because it was five years ago, which on the one hand doesn't seem that long ago, but on the other that was a quarter of my lifetime ago."

Sebastian ran his free hand up and down Kurt's back. "So, you're not upset about selling off a lot of what you had?"

"It was actually hard because I thought I'd never be able to replace a $350 shirt. And the thrill of owning such an exclusive piece is like a stamp collector finding a super rare stamp at a yard sale. The thing is that there really aren't a lot of occasions that I felt comfortable wearing a $350 shirt. It's all so hard to explain. But like the stamp metaphor, if someone showed me a $350 stamp, I wouldn't know. I would only be impressed if it were actually really well designed or something. So, finding an occasion where other people would be impressed with my $350 shirt meant that other people had to know it's value to be impressed, unless the design itself was really eye catching in a good way. It's all dumb anyway, no matter how much I love it. Just like collecting anything. We put a high value on things that really have no value beyond their usefulness. A $25 shirt from Target will keep my body covered just as much as the $350 shirt would. Exclusivity makes something more valuable, but not more useful. So, I had a big talk with myself about the whole thing and I really looked through what I had and tried everything on. I took photos of myself in each piece that I was on the fence about. In the end, I narrowed it down to what you see here, plus I went shopping at the outlet mall after I came back. I bought several pairs of jeans that fit well without being super tight. I knew I'd be down on the floor a lot and crawling around in skintight jeans wasn't appealing."

"I like your new clothes." He kissed Kurt. "They still show off your ass."

"Bas!"

"What? That makes them useful from my perspective." He winked at Kurt and kissed him again. "They cover your body, but still give me a nice view."

Kurt stepped forward, causing Sebastian to step back a few times until his back was against the wall. "Mmm hmm. Your new jeans do the same."

"Were you staring at my ass before we were dating?"

"I plead the fifth." He kissed up Sebastian neck.

Sebastian snorted and laughed. "Right."

"You were obviously checking me out too."

"I was, but I'm willing to admit it. You're hot. Not that I'm complaining, but what's with you and pressing me into walls?"

"I could press you into the bed?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Yes, please do."

Kurt ran his hands through Sebastian's hair and they kissed until they couldn't breathe. When they broke for air, he said, "Tonight. I promise."

Sebastian was breathing hard. He nodded. "Tonight." He took a few deep breaths. "We need to get back in the living room."

"We do." He pecked Sebastian on the lips. He let his right hand trail down Sebastian's neck and chest, stopping at his belt. He leaned in once more. "I love you," he said before kissing him once more.

Sebastian smiled. "I love you too."

Kurt stepped back and turned to leave the closet. Sebastian put his hands on Kurt's hips and started humming and doing the conga like he had before, making Kurt laugh as he joined in the dance.

When they climbed back into the playard a few minutes later, Rose crawled over to Kurt, managing to bring her animal sounds book with her. "Dada, moo!"

"Of course, Daddy will ready you the book." He picked her up and sat her on his lap.

Sebastian picked Rose up and sat her on his lap where she could see the book as well. When Kurt finished, Aliza was half-asleep in Sebastian's arms still holding onto the fox teether.

"Let's get them down for their nap," Kurt said.

* * *

When they woke up, Kurt and Sebastian hadn't quite finished putting the Lego set together. Kurt grabbed the camera on the way to their room. Once they had changed their diapers, Kurt draped their new quilts over the backs of their cribs and sat them where their name showed and took photos. They put them in their high chairs with some toys and went back to work on the Lego to finish it up.

Kurt said, "Since it's been so cold, we hardly ever put them in their front carriers and we haven't used the backpack carriers in a while either. Why don't we put them in their backpacks and wear them around while we cook and prep stuff?"

"Sure. I bet they'll like it."

They spent the next be-bopping around the kitchen to kid's music while prepping food for dinner and meat for the next few days. The girls thought it was a lot of fun to be up high enough to see what was going on. Both Kurt and Sebastian and interacted with the girls frequently as they moved around working on the food.

When they finished, Kurt pulled his phone out. "It's 42 outside. How about we take them for a walk?"

"That actually sounds really nice."

They changed the girls' diapers and put them in their bear coats. They put their own boots and coats on and took the girls out to the garage. Kurt sang to them while he bundled them up with a blanket in their double stroller. Sebastian pushed the garage door button and Kurt pushed stroller out to the driveway and turned it to the left, heading towards the sidewalk. Sebastian followed them out and reset the security system. He turned and stared straight into the same sight that had frozen Kurt in place.

Nick and Jeff had obviously pulled into the driveway while they were in the garage getting the girls ready. They had just parked along side the house and were looking directly at Kurt and the double stroller.


	28. Chapter 28

Sebastian looked at Kurt, who turned to look at him at the same time. 

Sebastian said, “I guess we’re going to have to trust that they can keep a secret.”

“I guess so.”

Jeff and Nick finally opened the doors on Jeff’s red Nissan Cube, which was the strangest looking model of car Kurt had ever worked on.

“So, how many of the unusual options did you choose, Jeff?” Kurt asked to break the ice.

“Umm, quite a few, but I’m pretty fond of the reclining back seats, the mood lighting, and the killer Bluetooth sound system.”

“Nice choices. The red suits you.”

“Thanks.”

“We’re obviously on our way out for a walk on this balmy central Ohio New Year’s Day. Care to join us?”

Nick said, “It’s like 40, but I guess you’re right. That’s pretty warm for this time of year.”

Jeff actually answered the question. “Sure, we’ll go for a walk with you.” He pulled out his gloves and put them on.

Kurt pushed the stroller forward and Sebastian stepped alongside him and took the left side of the stroller while Kurt pushed the right. He took Kurt’s hand. He figured they were going to have to explain what was going on, so why hide that he and Kurt were together.

“We’ll just go around the block so we don’t disappoint them after getting them ready,” Sebastian said.

“No, no. We’re fine,” Jeff insisted. “Take whatever walk you had planned on taking. There’s no snow on the ground. We’re fine. We won’t freeze.”

“So-” Kurt started before they got past Jeff’s car. “Let’s just stop for a second and get the basics out of the way. Sebastian and I are married. These are our daughters,” He pointed. “Aliza and Rose.” 

“And we’ll tell you in advance, we are not open to discussing their birth history. We hope that you can respect that. We honestly had not planned on anyone finding out until they were older, at which point we had hoped people would be less nosy. We had planned to be open about our relationship at the concert in May. We honestly didn’t think we’d see anyone we know from high school until then.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what to say about that,” Jeff said. “I’m not sorry that we came to visit Sebastian.”

“I’m not angry,” Sebastian said. “It’s just that only Wes knew where I lived and you two are not the first to show up unexpectedly since then.”

Kurt added, “Blaine followed you all back here after the caroling.”

“Oh, God. Wait. When we came you were home?”

“I’ve lived here for quite a while, so yes, I was home. I went to the back of the house and made sure that the girls didn’t wake up.”

“Oh, wow.” Nick said. “I am sorry that we stole you away from Kurt and your daughters on Christmas Day.”

“We’re not upset about that,” Kurt said. “It’s just we live a very quiet, private life here and we enjoy it. I’m not interested in being gossip fodder for the Warblers and New Directions. That’s why I said we were hoping to wait until they were older and then let people assume that we had adopted them as toddlers or something. We know that people won’t be accepting. People have a right to their opinions. We just don’t want those to ever reach the ears of our girls, but of course we know that’s inevitable.”

Rose started to fuss a bit. “Dada! Papa!”

“That’s our cue to move,” Kurt said.

He and Sebastian pushed the stroller the rest of the way down the driveway to the sidewalk. They could only fit two to a row. Nick and Jeff walked along behind them. They didn’t talk as they made their way around the block. They cut the walk short, despite being told they could stay out longer. On the way back up the driveway, Kurt stepped away from the stroller and opened the door on the small porch and let Nick and Jeff inside. He stepped inside behind them and reset the alarm. He heard the garage door go up and immediately back down.

He walked over to the back coat closet. He hung up Nick’s and Jeff’s coats. “I’ll be right back.” He went out to the garage to help Sebastian with the girls.

* * *

When the four of them came in, Nick and Jeff were just standing in the empty space where the playard usually was. Kurt and Sebastian hung their coats up and went to the girls’ room to take theirs off as well. Nick and Jeff followed them.

Jeff looked around from the doorway. “Aww. Their room is so cute. I like how it’s half and half.”

“Their quilts are really cute,” Nick said.

“Thanks. We made them.”

“We?” Nick asked.

“Yes, we worked together to make them. I did the sewing, but Sebastian did the cutting, piecing, and pinning.”

“Nice. I didn’t know you had any artistic skills,” Jeff teased.

“I didn’t either. Kurt helped me discover them.”

Kurt was holding Rose. She pointed at Nick and Jeff.

“That’s Nick.”

“Nick.”

“Mmm hmm. And that’s Jeff.”

“Yeff.”

“Good job. Should we show them your playroom?” Kurt didn’t wait for an answer and began to move towards the door. “It’s directly across the hall.”

Nick and Jeff moved and crossed the hall and stepped inside the room. 

“We’re almost done,” Sebastian said. “We have a bunch of stuffed sea creatures that should be here tomorrow to put on the empty shelves.”

“Sounds cute,” Nick said. “I loved plushies when I was younger.”

“Where are all of the Legos?” Jeff asked.

Sebastian opened the closet door and ushered Jeff inside. He pointed to the upper shelf where they had put the storage containers that had been under Sebastian’s bed.

“Awesome!” Jeff stepped back out and shut the door.

“The rest of the tour is this way,” Sebastian said from the doorway. He stepped out and walked just past their study and turned back to face them. “Our study.” He pointed to his left. “Bathroom here.” He pointed to his right. “There’s half-bath between the living and dining rooms too. Our bedroom is down there.” He pointed to his right again. He turned and headed to the living room.

Everyone followed him.

He put Aliza in the playard and stepped over the side. Kurt put Rose in as well and they picked the playard up and moved it away from the sofa on the side where it had been sitting too close for anyone to sit down.

Sebastian asked, “Would you two like to stay for dinner? We can order from this amazing Indian place.”

“Sure,” Nick said.

“Not to be really super nosey, but I got the impression from Wes that this was your parents’ place. But you and Kurt have the master suite. Did they move somewhere and give you two the house?”

“My parents died last summer. I inherited the house.”

“I didn’t know,” Jeff said. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

Kurt got up and brought back the menu from the restaurant and handed it to Nick. He sat down next to Sebastian on the sofa and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. “So, look, we know this situation brings up a thousand questions. So, I’m going to address what we’re willing to share.”

Nick nodded.

“Jeff and I ran into each other when he was in New York a year ago in the fall, in October. It was not long after Blaine had cheated on me. I asked him to keep that to himself, which he did. It’s my assumption that you two can keep what you learn to yourselves. School will be starting back up and we have a lot on our plates already and dealing with gossip isn’t on our to-do list.”

Jeff nodded. “We won’t say anything.”

Kurt nodded. “He had obviously been looking for me after he didn’t get to propose to me nearly a year ago. You heard what he said over lunch last week.”

“Yeah. That really aggravated me. You don’t just expect someone you cheated on to take you back.”

Nick added, “He basically sat there and said that he was hooking up with guys while waiting for you to come to your senses. I’m pretty sure that put him in the lost-his-mind category to everyone there when Jeff said you had been broken up for what? Nearly 15 months?”

“Yeah.”

“So, I don’t think many of the guys are Team Blaine anymore, just because that’s such a ridiculous idea. If someone calls it off, after 15 months, it’s long overdue to realize that it’s over.”

Jeff said, “I’m sorry I blurted it out that day, but I just couldn’t sit there and listen to him.”

“Other people knew, Jeff. It was fine. It would have been better to not ask you to keep it secret to start with. I did that because I felt guilty because he blamed me. But that’s all in the past and I don’t think it was my fault at all anymore. He had to take all of the steps to make that happen. It was his free choice. Obviously, it’s been over a long time.”

Jeff said, “And now you’re married to Sebastian.”

“I am.”

“And you both seem happy about it.”

“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “Definitely.”

They all sat and watched the girls for a few minutes.

"They're adorable," Jeff said. "Can I get in there with them?"

"Since your shoes are off, yes," Sebastian said.

Jeff climbed in and sat facing everyone else. He started playing with the Disney pop-up toy and got their attention.

“So, Jeff and I actually came over here for another reason besides to play with your Legos.”

Kurt chuckled. “If you want, we can go get one out and you can put it together.”

Jeff smiled. “Tempting. Very tempting. Maybe after dinner.”

Nick took a deep breath and looked at Jeff, who nodded.

“Jeff and I are a couple. We’ve been together for four years.”

“I know,” Sebastian said. "Well, I've known you were something since I started at Dalton."

Kurt said, “I had wondered, but never had any evidence.”

Nick looked perplexed. “What do you mean that you knew?”

“I was exploring the whole campus in my free time during orientation. I hadn’t joined the Warblers yet, so I didn’t know who you two were. But you were there as junior mentors. I was up on the upper floor of the dorm early the first morning of orientation. I hadn’t yet fully adjusted to waking up on Ohio time, so I had been up since 5:00 and I went exploring the building.”

“Oh, God,” Nick said, as he turned red.

Kurt looked confused.

Jeff’s eyes popped open. “Okay, I remember what was going on now. So, you saw that?”

“I heard what I’m assuming was your belt buckle hit the floor. I followed the noise. I saw Nick’s back, fully clothed and I could see the top of your head and the fact that your pants were around your ankles. I walked away. I’m not a voyeur. I didn’t actually see anything and I walked away so I wouldn’t.”

Kurt realized what Sebastian had caught them doing.

“So you’ve known all along?” Jeff asked.

“Mmm hmm. I thought maybe there would be some kind of LGBT club at the school, but there wasn’t. I never saw the two of you act like you were dating, so I didn’t know if it was just friends-with-benefits or fuck buddies or whatever. But I kept it to myself. We met when I auditioned. I was as close to you two as I was to anyone and you never told me anything, so that was that. I figured you had your reasons to keep it to yourselves. I might have been a jackass back then, but even then I wouldn’t have outed anyone.”

Jeff nodded “I’m gay. My parents know. I told them when I was 14. They’re okay with it. They weren’t thrilled because of how the rest of my family will act about it whenever they find out.”

“I get that,” Kurt said. “My stepmother is fine about it, but her family is not.”

“I’m actually bi, but when I got serious about Jeff, I told my parents that I liked guys. I know it’s disingenuous to an extent, but I’m certain that my mom would nag me to look for a girl if she thought there was a chance that I could like one. Columbia doesn’t have any rules banning us from sharing a dorm room as a couple, so we’ve been out at school since the beginning of the school year.”

Jeff went on. “Like you two, we plan to be open about it at the concert and let whoever we haven’t told personally figure it out then.”

“Okay,” Kurt said. “Did you two decide?” He pointed to the menu.

“Umm, yeah.” Nick pointed to the two entrees they wanted.

Kurt took the menu back and went into the kitchen to place their order. He came back and sat back down with Sebastian. 

Jeff asked, “So, is the ‘How did you two meet up again and end up married?’ question not an optional question?”

Kurt said, “We met up again in Columbus. We both go to OSU.”

“I thought you didn’t like Kurt,” Nick said.

Rose crawled to the edge of the playard. “Dada!”

“I’ll leave you to answer that while I put them in their highchairs and feed them.” He reached down and picked Rose up. He went back for Aliza as soon as Rose was fastened in.

* * *

After they finished eating, Nick said, “We’re going to have to get going. We have plans for this evening. We were going to invite you, but that’s not really going to work. We’re going out to one of the clubs to dance for a while. We invited Wes and David to go too.”

“I appreciate you thinking of me. We can make arrangements when you’re back for spring break or at the end of the semester. We’ll get a sitter. We just have to plan in advance.”

“We could come back tomorrow and build the Lego stuff,” Jeff suggested.

“You could,” Sebastian said. “We’re going to go out for lunch and we’ve got something we need to do on campus before we come back. The girls go down for a nap around 2:00. You could come back then. We can build while they’re asleep.”

Jeff’s face lit up. “Perfect.”

“Wait. I distinctly remember you telling me that you got a Porsche for Christmas last year.”

“I did. I build model cars. I got the kit I had asked for.”

Sebastian cracked up. “I thought you were bragging about it.”

“No, I was jealous that you had gotten the biggest Lego set.”

“You have the money to buy one for yourself,” Sebastian insisted.

“My parents were very clear. I could collect one thing. And when I was younger, I chose the model cars because my dad would build them with me and he didn’t care for Legos, even though I loved them. So, every Christmas and birthday, he’d get me an amazing sports car that we’d build together. I have close to 30 now.”

Sebastian was still chuckling. “Talk about miscommunication. That’s hysterical.”

“My dad’s an IT guy and we moved around a lot when I was young. We had lived in eight different states before we moved here when I was ten. We still don’t live in a big place. They didn’t buy the house we live in now until I was twelve and they were sure that dad liked the job he had taken here. Plus, honestly I was way into sports and I took guitar lessons and dance lessons. I was a very active child that needed a lot of movement.”

Kurt said, “That makes sense.” He opened the closet door and retrieved their coats. “Give us your numbers and we’ll text you when we finish with our errands on campus. That way you won’t get here before us and have to sit outside in the cold.

They exchanged numbers and headed out.

Sebastian reset the alarm after he locked the door. He turned around to find Kurt missing, but then heard the girls’ music start. Kurt came back into the room, took Rose out of her highchair, and began to dance with her. Sebastian refocused and quickly moved to get Aliza. The four of them danced around the room.

* * *

Sebastian followed Kurt into their laundry room after they put the girls down for the evening. 

“I’m going to go ahead and pretreat this shirt to get the stain out.” He unbuttoned it and laid it on the counter and sprayed the area. 

Sebastian put his hands Kurt’s shoulders and gently slid them down to the bend and left them there, gently running his thumbs across Kurt’s skin while he pressed soft kisses along the skin on his shoulders not covered by the singlet he still had on.

Kurt put the stain remover back on the shelf and put his hands on the counter to brace himself. “How about we move this to our room?”

“Excellent idea.” He kissed him once more and stepped back. He turned and went to their room. 

Kurt followed him, turning the lights off as he went.He closed the door to their room and followed Sebastian into the closet. He leaned back against the wall and watched Sebastian take his shirt off.

“You want to ask me something. I can tell.” He slipped his undershirt off and through it in the hamper.

“When we were out the last time, I bought some bubble bath and bath salts to use in the garden tub.”

“Are you asking me if they’re okay to be used in the tub? It’s not a jacuzzi, so I’m sure whatever you bought is fine.” Sebastian was teasing him just a bit.

Kurt rolled his eyes with a flash of annoyance.”No, it’s not that at all. I want to know if you want to take a bubble bath with me. I found a nice ocean scented bottle.”

He stepped closer and kissed Kurt. “I accept your invitation. I would have agreed, even if you had bought the most girly scent ever. A bubble bath with my gorgeous husband? Mmm.” He kissed Kurt again. “Definitely worth smelling like a flower of some kind.”

“I’ll go start it, then. I’ll call you when it’s ready. Maybe you can turn some music on and get the bed folded back?”

“Sure.”

Kurt went into the bathroom and slid the door closed behind him. He turned the faucet on and set the water temperature a little hotter than was comfortable.When the tub was nearly as full as he wanted it, he added the bubble bath near the faucet to get it to foam up and turned the water off just a couple of minutes later. He put the bubble bath back in the cabinet with his stuff, stripped down and opened the door just enough to call out to Sebastian. He crossed the room and got into the tub.

Sebastian slid the door open and closed it back to keep the heat in.He saw Kurt’s boxer briefs laying on the floor on top of his folded jeans, so he knew that Kurt hadn’t gotten in wearing them. He sat the baby monitor on the counter.

“I’ll keep my eyes closed until you say to open them.”

Sebastian wanted to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, but he decided that he’d try to do that once he was in the tub.He stripped down the rest of the way, dimmed the lights, and stood along the edge. “How do you want to do this? Where should I sit?”

“On the other end. I want to give you a foot massage, unless you don’t want one.”

“I’ve never had one before, so I definitely want one.” He sat down on the opposite end. “Okay, you can open your eyes.”

Kurt looked at Sebastian and smiled. He reached for a foot and pulled it into his lap.

“Just a little harder please, so it doesn’t tickle.”

Kurt nodded.He changed the amount of pressure. “Better?” 

“Perfect.”

Kurt started humming “Home”, which made Sebastian look up and smile at him. After a couple of minutes, he switched to Sebastian’s other foot. 

Sebastian was enjoying every second of it, but was struggling to keep his mind from thinking of what it would be like for Kurt to massage more of him, other parts of him. The relaxing feeling from the foot massage made his eyes heavy, but the pleasure of seeing Kurt sitting in the tub with him with bubbles halfway up his chest was enough incentive to keep his eyes open.

“You’re beautiful.”

Kurt averted his eyes towards Sebastian’s foot. “I’m going to be mortifyingly honest here. I’ve never felt the way I do about you and you asked about me pushing you against the wall and making out with you in the closet or the laundry room.”

Sebastian nodded. “Mmm hmm.”

“When we’re so close together, I just want you so much and it’s not a feeling I’m used to. And I don’t want to push you in anyway. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Maybe you’ve gotten the wrong impression because of the way I asked? I’m not sure, but you are in no way pushing me. I take that back. You are pushing me into the wall occasionally and I love it, like a lot. And it’s a huge turn on when you do it. And when you offered to move the make out session to the bed? That’s been replaying in mind all afternoon.”

“Oh.” Kurt’s surprise caused him to stop rubbing Sebastian’s foot.

“I think you completely underestimate just how attracted I am to you. And I’m certain that whatever you have in mind will be absolutely okay with me. More than okay. I will never, ever push you. I just don’t want you to misconstrue my willingness to wait with disinterest on my part. I have a very active libido. Up until a few weeks ago, I’d been dealing with that the same way I had since I stopped having sex when I was in Paris. Porn, toys, and masturbation.”

“And since a few weeks ago?” Kurt asked quietly.

“I stopped watching porn and I think about you.”

“But I’m not like the guys in porn.”

“You’re so much better.” He reached for Kurt’s foot and began to massage it. 

“I don’t know what to say. I have all of these feelings that I’ve never had before. And I want to do things that I’ve never really wanted to do before. Some of them are things I’ve done, although reluctantly at the time, and did enjoy. But other things pop up in my mind, like this - the bubble bath. And the pajamas-optional snuggles. And how much I just like to touch you. And my hesitancy is because it’s all so overwhelming how strong the urges are. I-”

Sebastian interrupted him. “I am certain that I will enjoy whatever it is. I want you to be comfortable telling me or showing me. What’s holding you back? Is it fear of rejection? I can promise you that I won’t reject you. The worst case scenario would be that I would delay whatever it is, like if I come home and have a huge project dumped on me at the last minute that I have to work on. Like someone in my group project ends up in the hospital and I have to do their part of something by the next day because no one can get the information off of the person’s laptop. A crisis situation.”

Kurt nodded.

“Our lives are always going to be a balancing act between our time for each other, time for the girls, and time for school or work. But I promise that you and the girls are my priorities. I want to have a job that I enjoy, but I want to come home to you. In the evenings after the girls go to bed, I absolutely want to do things like this with you. You flirting with me is, God, it’s so much fun. The teasing touches and your spur-of-the-moment make-out sessions while doing the laundry - it’s just fun and alluring and a huge turn on. So, now that I’ve made a huge long-winded speech, please know that I am absolutely interested in whatever you’ve been thinking of, so don’t hold back on my account.”

“You’re sure? I never want to put someone else in the position of not wanting to do something and going along with it out of a feeling of obligation.”

“I’m absolutely positive.” Sebastian switched to rubbing Kurt’s other foot.

Kurt didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He pondered what Sebastian had said about feeling comfortable talking to him about anything, and he did, almost. Everything except this He closed his eyes for a moment. He ran his thumb over his wedding ring. He was sitting in a garden tub in his own bathroom with his own husband who he hadn’t just _willingly_ married, but really _wanted_ to be with. And not just for the girls. For himself. He was the one that had confessed his feelings first. He was the one that had been taking the lead. Sebastian had just said not to take his lack of initiating things as anything other than him letting Kurt take the lead..

 _I want this. I want Sebastian. He wants me. I love him and he loves me. This is not going to be the same, at all._

He hated that Blaine even came to mind, and he wasn’t sure that he would have if he hadn’t shown up on their doorstep three days previous. If he hadn’t come and tried to sleep with Sebastian while waiting for Kurt. _Ha! Waiting, right._ Kurt pushed him back out of his mind. He reminded himself that Sebastian’s first time wasn’t with someone he loved. This time would be different for both of them.

“When I bought the bubble bath and bath salts, I bought condoms and lube. And despite us working together on putting everything in our room away, I did not see any toys or supplies, but I’m open to using a different type of lube.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows raised in interest at Kurt’s statement. “You didn’t see them because they’re in the bottom of the sock organizerI have, in the section where I have my dress socks. I don’t wear them often, so I put the toys in a bag in a small box that fits the space perfectly. That way my mom would never find them. She was an amazing person and completely open with me about sexuality and stuff, but it would have been beyond embarrassing for her to find my toys.”

Kurt laughed. “I can imagine. I’ve never owned any, but I can imagine the look on my dad’s face if he had ever found any.”

“Yeah.” 

Kurt moved Sebastian’s feet to the edges of the tub and pulled his legs back and repositioned himself so he was sitting on his knees. The change in position gave Sebastian the full view of Kurt’s torso, which made his heart speed up a bit. Kurt put his hands down in the water and crawled forwards. The water was just high enough with the bubbles in it to keep Sebastian from being able to see Kurt’s front anymore, but now he could see Kurt’s back and butt above the water.

“See something you like?” Kurt teased.

Sebastian swallowed to be able to talk. “I like everything I see.”

“You’re sure that you want this?”

“I have never been more sure of anything.” He reached forward and ran his hand along Kurt’s jaw, neck, and shoulder.

Kurt crawled closer and kissed Sebastian.He managed to turn a bit while they were kissing, and when they paused to catch their breath, he seated himself between Sebastian’s legs. He scooted back and reclined into Sebastian’s chest. He relaxed as Sebastian wrapped his arms around him. He slid his hands under the water and ran them along Sebastian’s thighs. Sebastian took the opportunity to kiss along Kurt’s neck and nibble his ear. When he trailed the kisses back down Kurt’s neck, Kurt turned his head and let it fall back onto Sebastian’s shoulder.

Kurt sighed happily. Rather than feeling tense like he had been, he felt so comfortable. He had struggled to feel good in his own skin and letting someone else see what he struggled to accept had always led him to covering himself up. But this felt so good.He sighed again.He rotated a bit. “Can you turn a bit too, so we can still kiss?”

Sebastian bent his left knee so he could scoot to the side a bit. “Feeling better now?” He kissed Kurt.

“Much, actually.” He reached up and ran his hand along Sebastian’s shoulder. “I’d like to continue what we were talking about.”

“So, we’re clarifying things now to prevent any further miscommunication.”

“Yes.”

Sebastian kissed him on the forehead. “I want you in every way you can possibly imagine. No hesitation. No exceptions.”

Kurt chuckled. “No beating around the bush, I see.”

He pulled back and looked into Kurt’s eyes. “Nope. I want you. No hesitation from me.” He winked at Kurt. “Like the song.”

“Like the song?” Kurt repeated.

Sebastian began to hum “I’m Yours”.

Kurt smiled and kissed him. “ _That_ song. So, to clarify my position. I’m all in. I’m not going to hold back. Every time that pesky notion pops into my head that I’m pushing you, I’m going to remember sitting in this tub naked with you while replaying you saying that you want me.” _In every way I can possibly imagine._

“Perfect. Rewrite that faulty file. Me and you in the tub making out replaces that old file. Out with the old, in with the new. It’s New Year’s Day, so it’s perfect timing.”

“It is.What about you? What old file are you going to overwrite today?”

He pressed his forehead to Kurt’s. “I won’t hold back. But you have to promise me that if I come on too strong or you just aren’t enjoying something, you won’t just go along with it. No one likes everything. Including me, I’m sure. If I’m not into something, I’ll say so. I have to know that if you don’t like something, you’ll say so too.”

“I will.” He kissed Sebastian. “And we can talk through whatever issues we run into.”

“Of course.” 

“So, now that we’ve gotten that all settled, what is it that you want to do that are you absolutely free to do now?”

“Make out with you more and-” He paused and looked Sebastian in the eyes. “Do you want me to tell you or do you want me to show you?”

“Show me. Definitely.”

* * *

With just his towel wrapped around his waist, Kurt reached into the basket in the bathroom cabinet where he kept his extra personal care products and pulled out what he had told Sebastian that he had bought. He showed them both to Sebastian. 

He nodded.”Looks fine to me. I’m not really familiar with American products, so if you like those, we’ll start with them.”

Kurt kept hold of both of them. “I’ll just leave you here to get ready. I’m going to go grab us a snack to keep our energy up.”

“You’re feisty. I’ll do my best.” He winked at Kurt. “I think I’m up for three and four before the girls wake up, especially with a snack.”

“Mmm.” Kurt swaggled on his way out of the room. He unpackaged the supplies and left them on the closest bedside table. He moved Sebastian’s phone over a bit to make room. 

He went to the kitchen and made hot chocolate and put it in their travel thermoses and put two slices of the cheesecake that Sebastian had made on a tray with two forks and a couple of napkins and took it to their room. He carried the tray to the bed and went back to lock the door, just to get into the habit of making sure that the girls never walked in on them.

Sebastian came out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later. He put the baby monitor on the vanity and joined Kurt on the bed. Kurt fed him a bite of the cheesecake and took one himself. Sebastian picked up the other fork and began to eat.

“What’s in the thermoses?”

“My famous hot chocolate.”

“Mmm. My favorite.” He finished his cheesecake and opened the thermos and took a sip. “It’s just the perfect temp too.” He put the tray on the floor. He was greeted with a kiss when he sat back up. “Excellent snack.” He finished his hot chocolate and put the thermos down on the tray. He moved and sat behind Kurt and began caressing his shoulders and kissed across his shoulders.

“That feels good.” He took the last few sips of his hot chocolate and put his thermos on the tray as well. He turned to face Sebastian and cupped his face and kissed him. “No pressure.” He kissed him gently.

“No pressure, but I definitely want to.”

“Me too.” Kurt slipped his hands down Sebastian’s neck and then down his chest. “You’re gorgeous.” He lovingly traced his index finger across Sebastian’s chest, randomly connecting the freckles, and then he drew a heart. “I love you.”

Sebastian squirmed just a bit, but didn’t pull away because he enjoyed Kurt touching him too much to give up the physical contact. “I love you too. And you are more beautiful than I had imagined, which is saying something.” He teased. “Now, my fantasies will be more reality based. I have no idea how you managed to wear those super skinny jeans you used to wear.” Sebastian looked down, smiled, and shook his head. “Nope, no idea.”

Kurt just laughed. He pushed Sebastian back a little and he lay back. “My secret, but I’ll gladly share it if you take up wearing super skinny jeans.”

“I guess I’ll never know then.” He pulled Kurt down on top of him.

* * *

Daniel knocked on the door near the kitchen quietly at 10:00am as scheduled. Sebastian opened the door and let him in. Kurt took his coat, while Sebastian rearmed the alarm and locked the door.

They sat down at the table next to each other so they could read the documents that Daniel had brought for them to sign. After they read through them, they each signed what they needed to and gave them back. 

“I can file everything in three months. I will ask for it to be expedited based on your travel plans and the need to apply for Passports for the girls. We’ll have to go to the consulate in Cleveland again once we get this part finished.”

Sebastian asked, “Do you think there will be any issues with the fact that we’re gay?”

“As wrong as it is and as bad as it sounds, the fact that you are both wealthy will probably make that a non-issue. If there’s a divorce, there will be no issue of the girls ending up needing government assistance.”

Kurt asked, “Do they really consider things like that? I mean any 16-year-old girl can go have sex and get pregnant and have a baby with absolutely no way to support one.”

“Adoption is different though. There are means testing and home visits. But with stepparent adoption is a little different. We’ll just have to see. I’m going to do everything in my power to get the same woman who approved Sebastian to adopt Rose to be the one to do the home visits for the stepparent adoption. She was fair. And I’m going to request an LGBTQ-friendly judge that I know of for the hearing. After looking into it very carefully, I honestly don’t see there being any issues.”

“That’s good news,” Kurt said.

Daniel asked, “You haven’t had any trouble since Monday have you?”

Sebastian answered, “Just Nick and Jeff showing up yesterday unannounced just as Kurt pushed the girls out of the garage into the driveway.”

“Oh, boy.”

“I kept a secret of theirs for a long time and Jeff kept one of Kurt’s secrets. I think they understand the meaning of discretion. They’re coming back over this afternoon.”

Daniel nodded. He passed a stack of papers to Kurt. “This is the detailed information on all of the accounts that are in your name. I know you had mentioned wanting your dad to pay off his house. I’ve put the account that has enough in it to do that on top.. I spent a lot of time going over French inheritance laws with Mr. Lavigne, the attorney whose name I found in the paperwork your mother left for you. She’s lucky to have found such an honest man. He’s been making sure that your taxes have been paid since she died. And he helped her add your name to the accounts when her father died so that it had both of your names as the account holders. Your father’s ability to access the money was terminated when you turned 18.”

He went on for about 20 minutes explaining in detail everything that Kurt needed to know. “So, there on the next to last page is the final amount that is yours. Mr. Lavigne will remain as your personal counsel at your request. His contact information is on the last page. It’s my suggestion that you continue to retain him.”

Kurt nodded. He turned to the next to last page and about choked. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m absolutely certain that is the correct amount.”

Kurt slid the paper towards Sebastian, who looked at it and nodded. His lack of reaction surprised Kurt. He tilted his head a bit in question.

“If you’re expecting Sebstian to be surprised, I have to assume that he hasn’t discussed his financial holdings.”

“I didn’t fall in love with him because he’s rich. I know that he has enough money to go to Columbia for four years, which would make me guess somewhere around $300,000. Beyond that, he said that his parents left him enough money that he could buy what he and Rose needed and pay the bills on the house. I actually never sat down and considered how much all of that would come to.”

“Well, I’ll leave that for the two of you to discuss. Do you have any other questions about the paperwork?”

“What do I need to do?”

“Well, Mr. Lavigne has done an amazing job. You two are planning to go visit Sebastian’s family when school gets out. I’d suggest that you make an appointment and go talk to him in person while you’re there. Since everything is invested in French banks, he would be better suited to help you find a financial planner there if you’re interested in changing your investments. I can help walk you through closing that account. You can pay off your parents house and put the rest in a savings account until you decide if you want to invest it or keep it as your source of income and prevent the need to work until after you graduate.”

Kurt nodded, clearly still in shock.

Sebastian said, “We’ll talk about it and get back to you later this afternoon.”

“Sure.”

Sebastian saw him out and returned to sit next to Kurt at the table, but before he could sit down Kurt stood up and took his hand and led him to the living room. He waited for Sebastian to sit down and he snuggled up next to him. Sebastian pulled the blanket down and covered them up. He took Kurt’s hand under the blanket and interlaced their fingers.


	29. Chapter 29

Kurt sat quietly for a few minutes before scooting down a bit and rearranging until he had his left arm behind Sebastian, his head on his chest, and his right leg over the top of Sebastian’s legs, which he had extended out on the ottoman. Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt retook Sebastain’s other hand once they were comfortable. Once Kurt had repositioned himself, he began idly running his middle finger over Sebastian’s wedding ring. “How could they have miscommunicated so badly that my dad had no idea that my mom had that much money? How did he not know that my mom had over three million dollars?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t know how much she had?”

“I don’t see how that could have been the case. That lawyer in Paris seemed to be doing an awfully good job for her to have just randomly picked someone at the spur of the moment.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. You told me about your dad having to take out loans for things.”

“He did. I couldn’t bring myself to let him take out a loan for me to stay at Dalton for the second half of the spring term. He had already spent their honeymoon money on keeping me there for half of the fall term and the first half of the spring term.”

Sebastian kissed him on the top of the head. “On the upside, no one will consider you a golddigger,” he teased.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Only you.”

“That’s right. Only me. That’s what that ring on my finger means.”

Kurt let go of Sebastian’s hand long enough to pull his phone out of his pocket. He pressed Burt’s name in his contacts. It rang a couple of times before Burt answered. He put it on speaker and slipped his hand back under the blanket to hold Sebastian’s.

“Hey, bud. What’s up?”

“Tell me again what Mom said.”

“I told you. All I remember her telling me was to give you that envelope when you started asking questions if she passed away before you turned 18.”

“And you didn’t think that meant to give it to me when I turned 18 if I hadn’t already asked questions?”

“I didn’t really think about it. I didn’t know it had information about money in it, Kurt.”

“How could you not know that she left money to take care of us? I’m so confused. How did you not know that she had money?”

“I thought it had like her life history before she and I met or something. You know, like family trees and stuff. I didn’t ask her then because I just couldn’t bring myself to accept that I was going to lose her. It was just one of those things I filed away with the other things I couldn’t part with, but couldn’t bear to look at. I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Dad, nothing makes sense. Help me out here.”

“Your mom and I didn’t agree on how to raise you in a lot of ways. I loved your mom, Kurt. I did. And I would still be with her, if she hadn’t died. But she wanted to give you everything you asked for. I thought you should have to work for what you wanted. I didn’t want you to grow up entitled and spoiled. I thought that hard work and learning perseverance and budgeting would make you a better person, instead of giving you everything and turning you into a spoiled brat. She also wanted you to just be who you were. I was more inclined to get you to like more masculine things. She insisted that it would break your spirit to not let you have the heels you wanted and the nail polish and to let you dress the way you wanted to. She took you to ballet lessons like you wanted. After she died, and we went to just one income, that option didn’t really exist anymore – you know, giving you everything you wanted. Walmart opened the tire and lube area and quite a few of my customers went in search of cheaper options. Most of them came back eventually, but things were tight for quite a while. I kept up your French lessons and the piano lessons. I figured they were the most important.”

“I remember about Walmart. And I’m glad you managed to let me stick with French and piano.”

“And I’m glad that I overcame my natural urge to make you more like me. You were always so in love with life like she was. Seeing you so free and happy was worth pushing aside my ingrained homophobic tendencies. I just never learned to embrace the things you liked, but at least I adopted my ‘I won’t change you.’ attitude. I’m working on that still. You know that. I told you that I was working on getting over you taking Aliza instead of living the life you had planned for yourself all those years. And I am. You’re you and I’m me. Your mom was an amazing person and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are her son. She would have done exactly what you did. She would have taken any child in. We wanted more kids, but it never happened and we eventually realized why. But anyway, this isn’t what you asked about. I didn’t know about the money.”

“I believe you. It’s just hard to come to grips with the fact that things were so hard and the money was there. It was there and it could have been used to change things.”

“To be fair here, Kurt, you never told me how bad it was at McKinley. And when I found out things weren’t as peachy-keen as you liked to tell me that they were, I had you transferred to Dalton. But you didn’t seem happy there either. When you came home and visited, you never talked about it being amazing or how much you loved it or some club you joined or any classes that you loved.”

“I struggled every minute of being in New York City. I worked two jobs and went to school full time.”

“Again, all I heard was how exciting it was to work at Vogue and how amazing NYADA was once you started. I didn’t even know you were working two jobs. You never once shared me with your expenses. You play everything so close to the vest, and you only share what either benefits you somehow or what you think will protect me. And that’s not the way people communicate, bud. I still don’t know the extent of what went on at McKinley, but seriously, Kurt, you made it sound like everything was back to hunky-dory when you came back from Dalton. Can you actually think of a time while you were in New York that you actually told me that you were struggling financially? I paid your tuition. You told me that you could handle the rest. What was I supposed to do? Call you a liar, and then demand to send you money? You can’t play it both ways.”

Kurt just sat there not knowing what to say.

“Kurt?”

“Yeah, I’m here still. I just don’t know what to say.”

“I’ve been paying your tuition out of your mom’s life insurance policy money. When I got the money, I invested it in a college education fund – a 529 plan I think it’s called. There was enough money there for you to attend Ohio State or the University of Cincinnati or one of the other state schools for four years, including room and board. That was obviously long before you set your sights on New York City. And prices for college have nearly doubled since I put the money in, but there would still have been enough for four years at a state school.”

“Why didn’t you pay off the house or something?”

““We didn’t owe anything on the house. We worked to pay it off before you were born. As I said a few minutes ago, we had hoped to have more kids. We saved up after we paid it off so that if we did have more kids, we could buy a bigger house. But like I said, I ended up using that money to pay her medical bills and for the funeral and stuff.”

“Oh.” He paused for a second to process the new information. “So, what would have happened in the future? NYADA costs a lot more than Ohio State.”

“I’ve been saving up, but it’s likely that you would have had to take out loans or work full-time making better money over the summers. I’ve saved up a lot out of what I’ve been making as congressman. You had your heart set on going there, and I honestly didn’t take the time to do any research about the cost. I was busy running for election, and then busy learning the ropes. By the time I felt like I had caught up, you were graduating and you got your letter, so it felt less urgent. You went to New York anyway last fall. You never once mentioned struggling to pay for things. When I came to visit, your place looked like you had shopped at second-hand places, but you’ve always liked to do that.”

“That’s true. I still do. And you have no idea why Mom has so much money? Did she never offer to help you with paying for things?”

“Of course she did, but she worked too, Kurt. We both put money into a joint savings account. I used the money in our joint savings account to pay her medical bills and for the funeral. I didn’t intentionally hide, what did you say, three million dollars?” He sighed loudly.

“Yeah.”

“Well, you’re set for life now.”

“Yeah. I’d still rather have Mom.”

“I know, bud. I know.”

His original idea of offering to pay off their house wasn’t needed. He knew his dad had managed to pay off his hospital bills from the arrhythmia and the heart attack, but he figured that there might still be bills from the cancer treatment. “Not to be super nosy, but do you still owe money on the house in Huntsville?”

“No. We did owe on the house in Lima, but probably not as much as you might think. I put all of the money from the sale of our house into the new house. When we sold the larger house and bought the new smaller one, we eliminated our mortgage. That’s how I’ve been able to save and put back money for your tuition.”

“My tuition still needs to be paid for from that fund right?”

“Yes. It has a limited range of things it can be used for.”

“How about I pay off whatever medical bills you still have from the cancer treatment. You can go ahead and plan that trip to Hawaii with Carole you never got to take since you won’t need to to use the money you’ve been saving to pay my future tuition. I’ll need you to send me the account information for the college fund. I’m going to look it over and read all of the fine print.”

Burt paused for a moment and didn’t say anything. “I’ll send you a photo of the last statement I got from the college fund. I’ll just cover over the account number. I’ll text that to you. And I’ve already paid the medical bills. The interest rate on credit cards is a lot higher than the interest rate earned on money in savings. I paid the bills and put less in savings until I had paid them off. I have a really good healthcare plan now.” 

“Well, that’s good.”

“We’re still on for Saturday morning, right?”

“We are.”

”The other thing I need to tell you is that you need to get health insurance for the four of you if you haven’t already. I had to drop you and Aliza off my policy when you got married.”

“We’ve taken care of that, but thanks for telling me.”

“So, what are you going to do with that much money?”

“Leave it where it is for now. When we go to France, we’re going to meet up with the French lawyer that’s been taking care of everything.”

“Good deal. Just don’t let it go to your head.”

“I won’t. I’m going to let you go. We’ve got to go run some errands on campus when the girls wake up from their nap.”

“Alright, bud. We’ll see you Saturday.”

Kurt didn’t move after the call disconnected. 

Sebastian kissed him on top of the head. “Are you okay?”

“Not really. I didn’t have the nerve to ask what I really wanted to know, but at the same time absolutely do not want to know.”

“What’s that?”

“Whether he would have changed anything he did if I had told him what was going on. I still don’t understand why he didn’t read what was in the envelope. I guess I’ll never understand.”

“Sometimes life’s like that. We both already know that, but being faced with it again is frustrating.”

“It is. Very much so.” He let go of Sebastian’s hand to look up 529 college savings plans. He turned it so that Sebastian could read with him.

They both read through the list of requirements and acceptable withdrawals.

Kurt’s heart dropped when he read part of it. “He could have paid for my tuition at Dalton with the money.”

“Would you have stayed?”

“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. If I hadn’t been certain that it was only a temporary placement due to the cost, I probably would have treated the time I was there differently. I didn’t engage with a lot of people, mostly just a few of the Warblers. It felt like a vacation. You know, you don’t really make friends with the people in the hotel room next to yours. If Dalton had been closer, I would have. But I knew there was very little likelihood of me returning there to visit people once I left, so I didn’t really put much effort into making friends. And from what we’ve found out lately, Blaine’s interference kept any of them from reaching out to me.”

“That makes sense. Your lack of effort made what Blaine told people seem true.”

“Plus, so many of them sat around and talked about going to Italy over the summer or the different cruises they had been on. I didn’t have access to the kind of money it would take to join in on things like that. It was easier to keep my distance and mind my own business.”

“Been there, done that on the keeping my distance.”

“We need to talk to Daniel again. I wonder how retroactively the funds can be dispersed. From what I’m reading, my rent in New York would fall under room and board. And if there’s no time limit, Dad can withdraw the money to cover the tuition at Dalton. I can withdraw money for books, a computer, etc.” He turned the phone again for Sebastian to see the part he was reading. “I need to come up with legitimate ways to withdraw the money because you’re not charging me to live here, so I don’t have rooming expenses, and from what Dad said about how much was in the fund, just the tuition alone at OSU is not going to be high enough to use the money that’s in there.”

“I’ll text him and ask him if he’s familiar with the 529 plans. You can make a list of your questions.”

“I’ll make a list in a little bit after I read through this again. Can we just snuggle and kiss for a bit? We don’t have that much longer before the girls will wake up and we need to leave.”

“Mmm hmm,” Sebastian hummed as he rearranged a bit to kiss Kurt.

* * *

Kurt opened the door and let Nick and Jeff in. “I’ll take your coat, Jeff. You can go look in the playroom closet and pick out whichever Lego you want to build.”

“Thanks,” Jeff said, as he handed his coat to Kurt.

Nick stayed behind.

Kurt took his coat and hung it up as well. 

“Did you manage to get your errands done?”

“We did. We just finished putting our books on the shelves for spring semester.” Kurt closed the closet doors and turned around to find that Nick had walked down the short hallway towards the back yard rather than the dining room. 

Nick turned around. “There’s a decent amount of space out back. It’s not huge, but plenty big enough for the girls to play. You’ve got room for a volleyball set up out there and croquet or a small soccer area still.”

“Sam said he’d help us build a picnic table for the porch and a swingset for the girls once it turns warm. And I want to get one of those long, shallow inflatable pools and put it on the porch out of the sun.”

“It’s nice that it’s already fenced.”

“It is.”

“I love the huge wrap-around porch on the front.”

“Me too. We might need to get a couple more rockers this summer, if we end up having people over a lot.”

Nick turned and stopped by the laundry room door. “Can I?”

“Sure. It’s just our laundry room.”

He opened the door and stepped in. “This looks like it belongs in the Ikea catalog or in Better Homes and Gardens. No. What’s that one I see in the checkout lines?” He looked around, while still trying to remember the name. “Real Simple. That’s it. It’s super organized. I like it.”

“Thanks. We worked on designing it together. We did get the wood shelving at Ikea and painted it white. It doubles as a place to hang wet clothes or our coats to dry and a place to keep pieces I’m working on from getting wrinkled or being in the way in the study. And keeping some backstock of stuff in here keeps us from having to reset the alarm on the garage every time we go to get something.”

“I like how practical this house is. My parents’ place is three stories and I feel like I run up and down the stairs a lot. I was unsuccessful in convincing them to let me put a mini fridge in my room in junior high.”

Kurt chuckled. “Seems reasonable to me.”

“I thought so.”

They moved closer to the table where Jeff and Sebastian were hard at work on the Lego sets Jeff had brought in.

Kurt said, “The house my parents bought after they got married was like that. In the basement, there was a den, a storage room, and the room where Finn had his drum set, where we put up sound absorbing tiles. The main floor had the living room, dining room, kitchen, a half-bath, the laundry room, my parents’ room, and their office. Upstairs we had three bedrooms and two bathrooms.”

“Sounds a lot like ours, except we have a gaming room in the bonus room over our garage along with two bedrooms and two and a half baths. My parents watch the TV in the den in the basement mostly. And their room is at the back in the walk-out basement area instead of on the main floor.”

Jeff said, “My house is a lot more like this one, but it has a different layout. It’s a ranch with two larger bedrooms, and one smaller that my parents use as their office. We have a great room, no separate living room and den or gaming room.”

Kurt moved around the table and started to work on the Pet Shop set that Sebastian was working on. Nick joined Jeff in putting the Town Hall set together.

Jeff continued, “I think I’d like a combination of both. I think I’d like having a living room and a gaming room, but I don’t want a huge house like Nick’s. Unless we adopted a few kids, it would be so empty. You two don’t have a den, but you turned one of the bedrooms into a play area for your girls. That’s close enough. I’d just like a place for people to horse around and do things like we’re doing now without disturbing people who might be watching something or talking.”

The doorbell rang and made all four of them jump. Kurt moved quickly to go check on the girls while Sebastian went to the door. He looked out and saw the UPS delivery driver standing on the porch holding the signature pad. He opened the door and signed for the box. He pulled it inside and reset the alarm. He couldn’t hear any crying, so fortunately the girls were still sleeping. He picked the box up and carried it to the playroom. Kurt turned and followed him as he walked by. They were gone for about ten minutes and returned with a flattened box that Kurt put out in the garage. 

Jeff stopped what he was doing and went back to the playroom to look. Kurt and Sebastian followed him, and not far behind them was Nick.

“Those are adorable,” Nick said. “I would have loved for this to be my playroom.” He wandered over in front of the shelves and looked at all of them. 

Jeff followed along behind him. “They really are cute.”

“The room doesn’t look so barren now,” Kurt said. “I like them as the final touch.”

Sebastian wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind. “I agree. And I’m sure the girls will play with them a lot once they get bigger.”

Once Jeff had seen all of them, he left to go back to work on the Lego set. Nick followed him. Kurt and Sebastian stayed back for just a minute. 

Kurt turned in Sebastian’s arms and wrapped his arms around his neck. He kissed Sebastian. “I think they look really cute. I’m glad we ordered them. They’re multi-purpose. Alton Brown would be proud.”

“Alton Brown?”

“He was always very, very down on uni-taskers. Did you not watch _Good Eats_?”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh. Well, that can be added to the list of things you need to see.”

“This involves snuggling and kissing still, right?”

“It does. But I am certain that you will like the show.” Kurt kissed him again. He pressed his forehead to Sebastian’s. “I’m not ready for winter break to end.”

Sebastian held him close. “Tomorrow morning we’ll make a combined schedule and plan ahead. We could have Trina watch them twice a month and we can find something to go do – clubs, movies, shows, museums, whatever we want. The opposite weeks we can plan to cook a fancy meal together here at home. I really enjoy cooking with you.”

“Me too.”

“We can have two movie nights, you can show me all of your favorites one night and we could do movies I like that you haven’t seen the others.”

“Sounds good. That reminds me that I need to pull _The Hobbit_ off the shelf and put it on my bedside table. I want to read that so I can watch the movies with you.” Kurt loosened his hold on Sebastian’s neck and began to run his fingers through the back of his hair. “We better get back in there. We have guests and we’re not being good hosts.”

Sebastian kissed him gently. “You’re right.”

* * *

The girls sat in their highchairs and played with the rattles they had gotten the day before and the crinkly toys that Carole had gotten them for Christmas while they watched everyone work on the two Lego buildings. 

When they finished, Jeff took a photo of both buildings together. “What did you do with them after Christmas?”

“I put them up on the shelves in my room, which is now the playroom.” He didn’t elaborate.

Kurt could sense Sebastian’s distress and changed the subject. “We bought stuff to make fajitas for dinner if you want to stay.”

“Ooh, that sounds good,” Nick said.

“You can even help us cook,” Sebastian offered.

Jeff laughed. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, but we could probably chop stuff up without cutting our fingers off.”

“Good. Oh, I should mention that Wes and David are coming too.”

“The more the merrier, right?” Jeff said.

“I’m going to put these on the shelf in the study where we put the other two we already put together.” Sebastian picked the Town Hall up.

Kurt picked up the Pet Shop and followed along behind him. When they came back in the room, Jeff was working on getting Rose to say his name. 

“Jeff,” he pointed to himself.

“Yeff!” She clapped for herself.

Jeff pointed to Nick. “Nick.”

“Nick,” she repeated. 

“Why can she say his name, but not mine?”

“She is saying yours to the best of her ability,” Kurt pointed out. “There’s an order that babies learn sounds in. ‘J’ is a late developing sound. It’s just harder. Babies substitute with the closet sound they can make. Just like she can’t walk because she lacks the muscle control and strength to do it. Our tongues are muscles and she’s learning how to control hers. It takes time.”

Jeff nodded. “I never thought about it like that. I’ve never spent much time around babies.”

“We’re learning as we go,” Sebastian admitted. “We have some books on infant and toddler development and the internet is where I found the list of the order babies learn to make sounds.”

“I’ll go put these back,” Kurt said. As he grabbed the boxes the Legos came in. “You three can get started on the dicing and slicing.” When he came back, he moved the high chairs and adjusted the height up to the island. He took the empty spot on the short side of the island next to Sebastian after he washed his hands. He sliced up the steak, chicken, and pork loin and put them in a bowl to marinate in the refrigerator. 

Wes and David arrived not long after they had finished prepping everything. Sebastian let them in and took their coats.

Wes headed straight to the girls. “How are my sweet nieces?” 

His enthusiasm was contagious and Rose started to kick her feet.

He pointed to himself. “Wes. Remember?”

She repeated, “Wef!” She held her arms out. “Up!”

“I think she’s tired of being in the chair,” Kurt said. “You can get her out if you want. I have just a little more clean up to do.”

He held his hands out to see if she really wanted him to pick her up.

“Up! Up!” She reached for him.

“Well, there’s my answer. How do I get the tray off?”

Kurt reached under and undid the latches.

“Thanks.” He unbuckled her and picked her up. “I think she wants up for more than one reason.” He scrunched his nose up. “Stinky.”

She laughed.

Sebastian had joined them after hanging their coats up. “I’ll go change her.”

“I can do it,” David insisted. Surely you don’t think that I’ve never changed a diaper with Trina being so into babies. Mom sent me along several times when she was just getting started babysitting in the fifth grade. She made sure I learned.”

Kurt chuckled.

“We’ll be right back.” 

David and Rose met Sebastian and Aliza on their way out.

“Papa! Muah!”

Sebastian leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“She’s adorable,” David said. He stayed in the room with her.

“She is.” He laid Aliza down on the changing table. He blew raspberries on her tummy before changing her diaper. “And Aliza here is my beautiful girl, aren’t you, honey?”

She smiled and cooed.

He changed her quickly. He picked her back up and held her to his chest and kissed her on top of the head. “Papa loves you, honey. Are you ready to go play with Rose in your playard for a bit while Daddy and Papa make dinner?”

David and Rose followed them back to the living room.

“We usually keep the playard in the dining room with the leaf out of the table.” He leaned down and put Aliza in. “But we can take turns watching them.”

David put Rose down and they went back into the kitchen. David stood along the wall, near the doors to the bathroom and pantry, keeping an eye on the girls. Kurt had moved their high chairs back to the table and he was starting to cook the meat with an audience of three standing around the island, out of the way. Sebastian stood in the corner near Kurt, but facing everyone else.

“So, I have an idea for the Bicentennial Concert. We’ll have to get Jon on board though because we’ll really need a beatboxer. He doesn’t actually have to perform with us if he doesn’t want to though. He could stand just offstage and use a mic. We’ll have to work on that part.”

“What song?” Nick asked. “Wes said we could submit smaller group pieces for consideration, but I hadn’t really thought about doing it.”

Sebastian pulled his phone out and played the song through once. Wes and Jeff took their phones out and looked up the lyrics while he played it a second time.

Wes said, “That will definitely get approved. There’s nothing obscene about it, and it does fit the six of us really well.”

Sebastian said, “Each verse has three sections that we could divide between the three couples. I don’t have the skills, but surely between the rest of you, one of you could create a 5-part harmony for the chorus, plus the person singing the descant.”

“We could create a nice humming intro and outro to eliminate the piano-only parts,” David said. “Wes and I can get it written up in harmony. Maybe Jeff can work on choreographing it. He’s a huge boy band fan. He can watch some videos and get some ideas.”

“I can do that.”

Kurt spoke up. “I’m in, BUT.” He paused dramatically. “I will not wear a blazer and do a boy band song. We need to wear the red sweater vests and roll our sleeves up to our forearms. We need to look casual, maybe mess our hair up a little before we go onstage.”

Nick nodded. “That sounds fun, except that Jeff’s tattoos will show.”

“So will mine,” Kurt said.

Sebastian smiled softly. He knew the story, but he also knew that he was the only one besides Sam. He knew how much it meant that Kurt was opening up about them rather than just using stage makeup to cover them up for the concert.

“Wait, what?” Jeff said. “I want to see.”

“Sure, after I finish cooking. It’s getting close to being done. You all can get the stuff to go on them out of the fridge, get out plates, and set everything up on counter buffet style.”

* * *

After they finished eating, Kurt and Sebastian fed Rose and Aliza, Wes, David, Nick, and Jeff watched them and talked about attending Columbia and living in NYC. They mentioned going to shows, clubs, and different cultural events. Kurt thought about how different it was from his experience living there, but he did his best not to let it get to him and to be happy for them. Sebastian saw the tenseness in Kurt’s face that the others didn’t notice. He imagined that listening to them was really hard on him.

When they finished, their guests helped clear the table, pack up the leftovers, and load the dishwasher while Kurt and Sebastian made the girls’ bottles. They all moved to the living room. Kurt and Sebastian sat in the corner of the sectional together so the girls could look at each other while they drank their bottles.

Jeff wasn’t able to keep his curiosity at bay any longer. To bring the subject back up, he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up. About two inches below the bend in his arm, he had bands that were about two and a half inches wide. Both were geometric patterns, done in black ink.

“Nice,” Sebastian said. “I like the designs.”

Kurt nodded. “Me too.” He took a deep breath. “When Finn died last spring, it hit me hard. At first, I thought I’d get ‘It gets better.’ on my right shoulder blade and I actually went to the tattoo shop with that written out, but Rachel and I took a few swings of limoncello to numb the pain in some way, but the tattoo artist smelled alcohol on my breath and sent me away, saying to come back when I hadn’t been drinking.”

“Good call,” Jeff said. “Getting a tattoo while drinking doesn’t usually end well.”

“I wasn’t drunk, but it did give me a chance to rethink my original idea. I thought about it for a few days. Finn’s favorite song was ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ and I had it on repeat one afternoon while looking through Glee Club photos on my laptop. It dawned on me how he had just decided that he thought that being a teacher is what he wanted to do, but he hadn’t even been in school long enough to figure out if he was right about it. He’d only been in college for a few weeks. I thought about it and I realized that I was in the same place. I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. I thought it was being in New York and going to NYADA, but it still didn’t just click, you know? I was too busy making it work and I was missing out on living. I was where I always wanted to be, doing what I wanted to do, but meeting myself coming when going. I went to one show while I lived there. And that was when my dad came and took me to one last Christmas. I also decided that what I had originally considered for the tattoo was too cliché. I wanted something more personal. And I decided that if I was going to spend the money to have a tattoo, I wanted it somewhere I could see it – not on my back. I did some sketches and went back to the tattoo parlor. After I thanked him for turning me away that night, I showed him the drawings and he assured me that he could do it by showing me photos of other intricate designs he had done. I was impressed and made the appointments to go in and have them done.”

He stood up and slipped off the cardigan he was wearing, and then rolled up his sleeves. He had bands around both arms that were about two inches wide, placed about an inch up from the bend in his wrists. Each one had a continuous scene from nature. The upper edge of the bands were music staves with notes on them. The bands farther from his wrists had lyrics from the two songs written in very tiny letters. Both tattoos were done so that they were facing the right direction for Kurt to look at them with the right orientation.

On the left, were mountains at sunrise, with a stream flowing around his arm and a very small bird soaring in the distance. The text at the bottom said: _It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap._

On the right, was a much larger, detailed bird in flight through a sunlit sky with a few clouds, soaring towards a small rainbow, flying over a wooded area running along a stream with mountains in the distance. It said: _Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream._

“So, I’m not sure if everyone knows, but my mom died when I was eight. She and I used to watch the _Sound of Music_ a lot. We would sing along to all of the songs. She sang ‘Climb Every Mountain’ to me frequently, especially when something was hard for me at first. She taught me to persevere. Looking back, I think it was like her anthem for me. She knew I was gay, and I’m sure that she knew that it would make my life have a lot of obstacles. Having that song to fall back on always meant a lot to me. I sang it to myself after she was gone.”

No one said a word.

Kurt went on. “The other is from _Wicked_ , which is my favorite musical. There’s a long backstory that I won’t bore you with. But I held back once with this song, and I didn’t soar. The exact opposite, actually. But it still meant a lot to me for other reasons I won’t get into. But I thought about that in relation to Finn’s death and mortality in general. Mr. Schuester invited the New Directions that had graduated last year back to the school for a farewell get-together in May the week after Nationals to have an official end-of-an-era goodbye. I sang ‘Defying Gravity’, and to the surprise of everyone, I hit the high note with no problems.”

“What do you mean ‘end of an era’? Nick asked.

“The New Directions were required to win Nationals to continue to be a club.” Kurt explained the situation. He ended with “So there won’t be a Glee Club at McKinley anymore.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Wes proclaimed, quite indignantly. 

“It is. Anyway, you four are the only ones that know about them, besides Sebastian obviously, and Sam. He was still living with my parents when I came back for the get-together, which is when I moved back to Lima.”

Jeff said, “Your story about yours is really super cool. Thanks for sharing it with us. I don’t have any amazing story to go with mine. I liked the look of the armband tattoos around the bicep, but I rarely wear sleeveless shirts and I wanted to be able to see them, so I had them done on my upper forearms.”

Nick said, “Jeff and I need to head out. Thanks for having us over. We’re leaving Saturday morning, but we’ll stay in contact.”

He and Jeff got up. Sebastian saw them out. While they were getting their coats on, Kurt set up the movie that they were going to watch and put in the music CD for their evening dancing and singing with the girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See the first comment for the note.


End file.
